Norwich City vs Liverpool Premier League Match Preview
This is the fourth time Norwich City will face Liverpool in their opening top-flight match of the season, winning none of the previous three (D1 L2), including in their last Premier League season in 2019-20, going down 4-1 at Anfield.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League matches against Norwich (W12 D2), netting 44 goals across those matches (3.1 per game). In their 18 Premier League meetings with Norwich, Liverpool have scored 50 goals at an average of 2.8 per game. The only team to have a higher goals-per-game ratio against an opponent in the competition (min. 15 games) is Man Utd against Wigan Athletic (50 in 16 games, 3.1 per game).
Norwich City are winless in their first Premier League match of the season in each of their last eight attempts, the longest such ongoing winless run by a current team. Their last opening day win was against Arsenal on the first day of Premier League football in 1992-93.
Liverpool have won their last seven away Premier League matches against Norwich City, only having a longer away top-flight winning run against West Bromwich Albion (8 in a row between 1983 and 2009).
Liverpool’s five opening Premier League matches of the season under Jürgen Klopp have seen 29 goals scored in total (19 for, 10 against), with the Reds unbeaten in all five (W4 D1) despite conceding three goals in three of those five games: 4-3 vs Arsenal in 2016-17, 3-3 vs Watford in 2017-18 and 4-3 vs Leeds in 2020-21.
Norwich City lost 27 of their 38 Premier League matches in their last season at top-flight level in 2019-20, finishing bottom of the table and losing their last 10 games consecutively. Only two teams have ever lost more than 10 in a row in the competition: Sunderland between 2003 and 2005 (20) and Aston Villa in 2016 (11).
Liverpool finished the 2020-21 season with the longest unbeaten run (10) and the joint-longest winning run (5, level with Arsenal) of any side in the competition. Indeed, the Reds’ five consecutive league wins in May was more than they’d picked up in 12 games in February, March and April combined (W4 D2 L6).
Norwich manager Daniel Farke has twice led Norwich to the Premier League as champions of the second tier (2018-19 and 2020-21), only the second manager to do so twice with the same club, after Peter Reid with Sunderland. However, Farke’s Premier League win ratio of 13.2% (P38 W5) is the joint-second worst of any manager to take charge of 30+ games, ahead only of John Gorman (11.9% - P42 W5).
Teemu Pukki scored 42% of Norwich’s Premier League goals in their last campaign in the competition in 2019-20 (11/26). In fact, since the Finnish striker joined the Canaries in 2018, he’s netted 34% of their total league goals (66/194).
Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah has scored in their first Premier League game of the season in the last four campaigns, scoring a hat-trick last season against Leeds United. No player has ever scored on the opening day in five consecutive Premier League seasons.
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