Ahead of today’s trip to Carrow Road, it’s time to predict what side Eddie Howe will select to face Dean Smith’s Norwich City.
Ryan Fraser (hamstring) is out and facing a “race against time” to play again this season, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson will be missing once again and Howe has hinted at changes ahead of our third game in less than a week.
Keeping all of the above in mind, here’s the new-look 11 we can see starting come 3pm today:
(3-5-2): Dubravka – Schar, Lascelles, Burn – Murphy, Guimaraes, S Longstaff, Willock, Targett – Saint-Maximin, Wood.
Four changes and a switch in formation may seem a bit bold, however I think Howe will spring a few surprises in this one.
Shelvey and Joelinton looked shattered at the end of Wednesday night’s win, paving the way for Willock and Longstaff, while Lascelles has been talked up by Howe for some time without getting starts.
Murphy is someone who will be fresh and eager to impress against his former club and the change in shape could be something Howe considers when our last good away performance came when playing three at the back in that unfortunate defeat to Chelsea last month.
I must stress, Krafth and Almiron don’t deserved to be dropped – I could easily be wrong here – however both looked shattered in that second half against Palace, with the Swede cramping up on several occasions and doing well to play twice in four days after a period of illness.
I was tempted to put Gayle into this predicted XI given how leggy Wood has looked lately, but it’s difficult to go with a player who has managed just NINE minutes of football all season!
Predicted Norwich XI (4-2-3-1): Krul – Byram, Gibson, Hanley, Giannoulis – McLean, Normann, Dowell, Lees-Melou, Rashica – Pukki.
