​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

21 mins: Pukki and Mclean combine to get a shot off on the edge of Southampton’s box. The shot is blocked and Valery lets the ball spin out for a corner. It’s whipped into the middle of the box but defended well by Southampton. 

​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

18 mins: Bertrand overcommits as Mclean tries to turn the ball past him. The Saint’s midfielder brings down the Norwich man and gives the home side a free kick close to the halfway line. 

Godfrey is caught on the ball by Ings who runs it into the box with yellow shirts in pursuit. Godfrey catches up to the Southampton striker as he takes his shot at goal but the ball loops up off Godfrey and Krul is left with an easy catch. 

​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

15 mins: Southampton seem to have found their feet. They’re controlling more of the ball and asking questions of the Norwich defence without being too penetrating. The bulk of the action is playing out in the middle of the park. 

​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

12 mins: Southampton respond with a decent attack of their own. They get men in the box as Ward-Prowse sends the ball out to the left for Redmond. He crosses the ball into the box and Ings wins the header. Krul is wrong-footed but he manages to dive to his right and stop the ball finding the back of the net. 

​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

9 mins: Norwich move swiftly forward with a run from Jamal Lewis on the left wing. He passes the ball up to Pukki who is closed down by both Saints’ centre-backs. Drmic eases into space on the right side of the box and Pukki picks him out with a pass. Drmic has the opportunity to shoot but takes too long on the ball and his shot gets blocked.

​Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

6 mins: Southampton are really struggling to get into the game. Norwich have pressed high up the pitch. Armstrong tries to send Redmond away on the counter attack but his long pass is off target and Tim Krul can take hold of the ball under little pressure. 

Norwich 0 – 0 Southampton

3 mins: Norwich win a free kick on the left side of the pitch, deep in Saints’ half. Buendia crosses the ball into the box, it’s flicked on at the near post and comes to Trybull. He attempts to bring the ball down but it is booted out into the stands for a corner. 

Both teams still sport the ‘Black Lives Matter’ message on the back of their shirts as will happen for the first 12 games of the Premier League restart.

A minutes silence to celebrate the frontline workers of the coronavirus pandemic precedes kick off.

Ten minutes or so until kick off, the sides have undergone their socially distanced warm ups and will be heading out to the pitch shortly. 

Daniel Farke has set Norwich a target of five wins from these last nine games. Will they start by picking up three points this evening? 

Norwich manager Daniel Farke still believes his side can avoid relegation but he knows the task will be hard. He said:

“The biggest challenge will be the game for sure. The circumstances are a bit strange but we have to get used to it. We try to prepare the players in the best possible way during this little pre-season and each and every team has to adapt to this. 

“We are full of hope and also we trust each other. We have nothing to lose, we are the biggest underdogs in this league. We’ve had several setbacks during this season especially with a big injury curse but against all the odds we want to go our way and try to work on our own little miracle. 

“Nine games, and we know because of the points we need at least five wins. It’s a huge task especially for a newly promoted side who could hardly spend any money and hit by an injury curse but it is definitely possible.”

Facemasks at the ready. 

Off the pitch Marcus Rashford has been dominating the headlines for campaigning to extend the free school voucher scheme. Parents will get £15 a week to spend in supermarkets on food for disadvantaged children, following the campaign led by Manchester United star:

With kick off at Carrow Road just 40 minutes away we’ll look forward to tonight’s second game featuring Tottenham and Manchester United.

Tonight’s match could see Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba line up together in midfield for United but who would join them in the centre of the pitch?

Southampton manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, has spoken about his teams return to football saying: 

“It is important for the group to get back playing and this is what we like to do the most. There are special circumstances when you arrive at the stadium but we are still looking forward to an intense game.

“It doesn’t really feel like an away game at the moment. The most important thing is that we go back to what makes us strong and those behaviours we showed in the good term and we show it again. Nobody knows exactly what level it is at the moment so it’ll be interesting to see who adapts quicker to the intense game.

“As much as possilbe, as soon as possible is the slogan for the last nine games [in terms of points]. My players are fit and hopefully we’ll see them playing their best.” 

Timm Klose makes his return to the Norwich line up for the first time since January 2019, will he make an impact for the Canaries?  

Team news

Norwich make three changes from the team beaten by Sheffield United two and a bit months ago. Timm Klose starts in their depleted defence, as captain too. Tom Trybull and Josip Drmic also come in.