Preview - Norwich City

The background 

West Ham United return to Barclays Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to relegation-threatened Norwich City.
 
The Canaries, who won the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs last term to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking, find themselves in danger again following a run of five successive defeats.
 
Alex Neil’s team slipped into the bottom three last weekend after Newcastle United defeated West Bromwich Albion to overhaul them.  The Canaries were losing to bottom of the table Aston Villa at the time, adding them to Tottenham, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Stoke as the teams to defeat them since the turn of the year.
 
West Ham’s form has been better, despite losing 1-0 at Southampton last time out in the league. They took four points from their previous two games, and defeated Liverpool in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday night.
 
Angelo Ogbonna settled a dramatic contest at the Boleyn Ground, climbing high to head home from Dimitri Payet’s free kick in the final minute of extra time and seal a 2-1 win.

The history

West Ham United and Norwich City have met on 51 occasions in the past. It is the Hammers who edge the head-to-head record, with 19 victories to the Canaries’ 16. The other 16 encounters have ended all-square.
 
The Hammers last won at Carrow Road in an FA Cup third round tie in January 2006, drawing 0-0 and losing 3-1 there in the league since.
 
In the last meeting, at the Boleyn Ground in September, Cheikhou Kouyate struck at the death to rescue a point for a West Ham team who trailed twice. Robbie Brady opened the scoring, with Diafra Sakho levelling on 33 minutes. Nathan Redmond appeared to have won it for the visitors seven minutes from time before Kouyate’s late intervention.
 
Norwich have ex-Hammers Matt Jarvis and Gary O’Neil in their squad, with the former having joined the East Anglian side permanently in January following a loan spell for the first half of the campaign.

The match 

Team news

West Ham United 

The Hammers picked up a number of extra injury worries in the week, with Winston Reid, Joey O’Brien (both hamstring) and Cheikhou Kouyate (concussion) now all absent for the trip to Norwich.
 
James Tomkins (calf) is another recent injury victim and faces five weeks out, but Sam Byram and Emmanuel Emenike return after being ineligible for the midweek game.
 
Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho are both set to resume training this week as they edge ever closer to comebacks.

Norwich City

Alex Tettey is serving the second match of a two-game ban for the Canaries so will miss out for the hosts.
 
Graham Dorrans returns to the fold after suffering an illness, but defender Andre Wisdom is out with a knee injury.

Match info

• Saturday’s match referee is Mike Jones, who hails from Chester and will be taking charge of a Hammers game for the first time this season. He was last the man in the middle for a West Ham match last April, when they drew 0-0 at Queens Park Rangers. His assistant referees will be Mark Scholes and Andy Halliday. Gavin Ward is the fourth official.
• Five of the nine Premier League meetings have ended in a draw, with both sides winning two apiece.
• There has been a 90th-minute goal in the last four Premier League games between these two teams.
• Norwich have lost their last five league matches and their last six in all competitions, conceding 19 goals.
• The Canaries have conceded the first goal of the game on 18 occasions in the Premier League this season, a league-high.
• The Hammers have been in the top half of the table all season.

Ticketing, travel, coverage and other info

• Tickets for West Ham supporters for this game have SOLD OUT.
• Supporters travelling by train should note that there is no service between Liverpool Street and Ingatestone on the line to Norwich this weekend. Replacement buses are running between Newbury Park on the Central line and Ingatestone. Click here for more information.
• A dry, cloudy and chilly day is expected in Norwich on Saturday. Temperatures are set to reach 5C (41F) at kick-off.
• Click here for Norwich’s away fan guide.
• If you’re not heading to the game, make sure you stay abreast of all the action on our digital channels. The whufc.com Live Match Centre will have live audio commentary and text updates, in-running stats, photos and more. You can get involved in the conversation on social using #NORWHU