The 2022-23 Championship campaign did not go as hoped for the Norfolk outfit, who went winless in their final six league fixtures as they wound up 13th, its lowest finish in the second tier of English football since 2017-18 (14th).
David Wagner saw his group win only one of its final 11 league fixtures last season, as Norwich suffered 18 defeats domestically, five more than in its previous two Championship campaigns combined when they won the title in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
While his team were poor throughout the tail end of last season, they seemed to improve their build-up play in the final few matches and had a clearer identity of creating numerical advantages down the flanks and all of that seems to be clicking in their friendlies played this month.
Despite its previous underwhelming campaign, the expectations for 2023-24 will be for this club to return to the Premier League, and the Canaries have been busy trying to get the right personnel together to make that dream a reality, signing 10 new players since mid-June, many of whom have top-flight experience.
Since their pre-season series began at the start of July, Wagner has seen a stingy defensive unit hold its own, conceding a goal or fewer in each of its encounters, with his side drawing first blood in all of those friendlies.
Norwich won only one of its final three Championship affairs last season when scoring first and have squandered two leads in the pre-season when doing so, drawing Barnet 1-1 and letting an early lead versus Alkmaar slip away quickly as well
Like many clubs across Europe, Le Tele have injected youth into its squad beginning from the top, with Carles Martinez Novell appointed as the new manager after serving as an assistant under Philippe Montanier.
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The Spaniard, who previously worked at the Barcelona youth academy, has been praised by Toulouse president Damien Comolli for his tactical knowledge and training methods, which according to many at the club, were decisive factors in them winning a first-ever Coupe de France.
Not only will Novell have some big shoes to fill, replacing a manager who delivered two titles while in charge, matching the entire Toulouse total from before he arrived, but the Spaniard inherits a club that lost one of its top playmakers during the summer transfer window along with some secondary scoring.
So far in the pre-season Les Violets have struggled on the backline, conceding eight goals in three encounters and scoring just three themselves, while its five goals allowed versus Werder Bremen were the most for them in a single match since they were thumped 6-1 by Marseille last December in a Ligue 1 fixture.
Tuesday will only be their third match against an English opponent, with Le Tef losing the previous two against Liverpool in the 2007/08 third-round Champions League qualifying stage, 1-0 at home and 4-0 at Anfield
