Arsenal make the trip to Norfolk this weekend as they take on newly promoted Norwich City at Carrow Road, in their 14th match of the season.
The Gunners have had a good start to the season marred by some recently disappointing form. They’ve dropped to fourth in the league following a loss away at West Brom, where it was a lacklustre showing by the visiting side. Failing to maintain any kind of stability in the midfield and defence, a range of errors, injuries and individual problems ended a good run by Arsenal. This result, however, was put to bed by Arsenal a couple of days later back at the Emirates, against Dinamo Zagreb. It was a dominant win where Arsenal never looked like dropping points with their best players on point, which sets them up for a grandstand finish in two weeks time in Athens.
Norwich will not appear as the most difficult of challenges given how they’ve fared this season. They sit in 16th, just two points from the drop zone. Whilst Alex Neil is determined to play the brand of football that his side used to be promoted last season, it has cost them as a result, with the Canaries winning just three games so far. Their last game was a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in which they gave a stubborn and frustrating performance against Chelsea, holding them off for just over an hour before eventually succumbing to the Blues’ attack. Dry similarly, it might be difficult at first to break down this Norwich back-line.

A player Arsenal need to watch out for is Nathan Redmond. The young Englishman returned to the Premier League this season and hasn’t looked out-of-place since, with his explosiveness and goalscoring ability down the wing providing problems for teams. It’ll be a challenge for Nacho Monreal to keep a leash on this player.
A player Norwich have to keep an eye on is Mesut Özil. The German scored against Zagreb on Tuesday and recently made a new Premier League record – becoming the first player ever to assist a goal in seven consecutive league games. It’s clear that Özil has a case to being the best player in the league at the moment, and his creativity and vision is sorely needed to break down teams and get the three points on the occasion.
Mesut Özil has extended the Premier League’s record for most consecutive games (7) with an assist.
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzilStats) November 21, 2015
Team news
Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all remain out until the turn of the new year. Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott are out for another few weeks while Francis Coquelin is out until January in what is a heavy blow to Arsenal. However, positives include the return of Aaron Ramsey, who should start on Sunday, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who’ll most likely be on the bench.
Predicted XIs
Norwich (4-5-1): Ruddy; Martin, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, O’Neil, Mulumbu, Brady; Mbokani.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Chambers, Cazorla; Ramsey, Özil, Alexis; Giroud.
Prediction
A 2-0 win for the Arsenal, which will bring the Gunners to joint top with Leicester and Manchester City. Norwich will be tough to break down in the first half, so as a result both sides will go in at the break goalless. However, Arsenal will get the points in the second 45, with goals coming from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey – with Mesut Özil grabbing an assist in the process – in what should be a comfortable afternoon for Arsene Wenger’s men.





