Norwich looked down and out in the Premier League at the end of October, but the Canaries beat Brentford and Southampton in back-to-back matches either side of the November international break before picking up points in draws with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
Dean Smith’s side lost 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, though, which saw them return to the bottom of the table, boasting just 10 points from their opening 15 matches of the campaign.
The picture is a lot brighter for the promoted club, though, as they are only three points behind 17th-placed Watford and have shown a fighting spirit since Smith’s arrival as head coach.
Norwich now have back-to-back home league fixtures against Man United and Aston Villa before travelling to West Ham United on December 18, while they will welcome Arsenal to Carrow Road on Boxing Day, and it will be fascinating to see where the club are in the table approaching the end of the month.
The Canaries have lost eight of their last 10 league matches against their opponents this weekend, including a 3-1 defeat when the two teams last locked horns at Carrow Road in the Premier League in October 2019.
Man United, meanwhile, will enter Saturday’s contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Young Boys in their final Champions League group fixture on Wednesday evening.
Interim head coach Ralf Rangnick rung the changes for the European affair, selecting a brand-new XI, and a youthful side managed to claim a point, with Tom Heaton, Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal making their first-team debuts, while Mason Greenwood was on the scoresheet for the home side at Old Trafford.
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Rangnick will now be looking to make it back-to-back league wins under his management, having led the Red Devils to a 1-0 success over Crystal Palace last Sunday, with Fred netting the only goal of the contest, as the club moved into sixth position in the Premier League table.
Man United are just three points behind fourth-placed West Ham United and have a favourable run of fixtures in the weeks ahead, facing Norwich, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United and Burnley before the end of the month, and Rangnick will be looking to secure a lot of points during that period.
The fact that the German could rest his entire first-choice XI on Wednesday should stand the Red Devils in good stead this weekend, as he will demand another high-energy performance from the players, who could not find a way to perform in the latter stages of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s management
