Norwich City visit Elland Road on Wednesday evening. Playoff hopefuls Norwich City will be without several first-team players when they travel to Leeds United this week. The Canaries are coming off a disheartening 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United.
Head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup picked a bench at Bramall Lane that included six young players with only two substitute league appearances between them at kickoff. Jose Cordoba, a centre-back, is the newest addition to the club’s lengthy injured list. Thorup stated that the defender suffered a fresh knee injury following the FA Cup defeat at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, putting him out of the trip to Elland Road.
Thorup’s midfield options have been particularly limited, with Marcelino Nunez, Liam Gibbs, Jacob Sorensen, Anis Ben Slimane, Gabriel Forsyth, and Tony Springett all sidelined. Borja Sainz, the club’s leading marksman, will serve the third of his six-match suspension for spitting, while new signing Matej Jurasek is ruled out due to post-Brexit regulations. Ashley Barnes, Christian Fassnacht, Kaide Gordon, and Grant Hanley have all departed the club since the January transfer market began, reducing the Canaries to the bare bones.
Thorup stated ahead of the match against Sheffield United: “It’s always fun to play against the league’s strongest clubs. Sheffield United is one of them, with Leeds following up next week. It is always exciting.
“We never go there to regard it as a test or an experience; we go there to win and attempt to win in the way that we want to. It has a significant impact on the remainder of the season as well as the following season.
“There are several sides to this, including the psychological aspect, which is about what we’re going to do, how we’re going to approach it, how we want to design our passing game, and how much we’re willing to risk.
“That’s the style we always have, even travelling away from home knowing it’s been difficult for us, but we have to learn it, keep on doing it, take the learning out of it and see if we can be a little better in the next one.” City sit in 11th position, five points outside of the play-off positions.
