Will Norwich bounce back to the Premier League again this season?

Norwich have earnt quite the reputation for themselves as a ‘yo-yo club’ and we’ve looked into their chances of promotion this season.

In previous years Norwich have swept aside the competition in the Championship and have won the league with 97 and 94 points in their last two outings. 

Will history repeat itself this year or are Norwich in for a bumpy ride? 

 

Dean Smith 

Probably the biggest difference for Norwich in the Championship this season is the change of manager. 

In their two title-winning seasons, Daniel Farke has been at the helm and he oversaw a fluid system which saw Norwich score over 90 goals in the 2018/19 season.  

Dean Smith himself does already have a promotion from the Championship on his CV as he guided Aston Villa to promotion in 2018/19.  

Smith was appointed as Aston Villa manager 12 game weeks into the season as Villa were 15th in the table. 

Thanks to a 10 game winning streak at the end of the season, they made it into the playoffs and beat Derby at Wembley to clinch promotion. 

With the squad Smith has available to him this season, it’s fair to say that the expectations will be on him from the start of the season. 

 

Teemu Pukki 

The biggest asset Norwich have this season is Teemu Pukki.  

The Finnish striker has been their top goalscorer for the past four seasons and he is one of the most prolific strikers we have ever seen in the Championship.  

Pukki has the third best minutes per goal ratio of any Championship forward to have played more than 50 matches. 

Averaging a goal every 132 minutes, Pukki has scored 55 goals across his two seasons at this level. 

There is the argument to be had that without his partner in crime Emi Buendia, he may not be as prolific.  

In the 20/21 season, Buendia created 122 chances which was double the amount anyone else managed within the Norwich squad. 

Instead of Buendia, Norwich will look towards the likes of Todd Cantwell, Rashica and Danel Sinani to provide the chances for Pukki.  

 

The squad 

Other than Pukki, Norwich have a wealth of previous promotion winners throughout the spine of their squad. 

Tim Krul has proven to be one of the best shot-stoppers at this level and his save percentage of 80% in 20/21 backs this up. 

They also have two incredible capable full-backs at this level in Max Aarons and Dimitris Giannoulis.  

Last time around in the Championship Aarons created 61 chances from right back and Giannoulis averaged one key pass per game.  

Dean Smith will no doubt give his full backs licence to get forward into the attacking third and they could provide a consistent flurry of chances for Pukki.  

In midfield for Norwich, there are a few more unknowns about the squad. 

In the Premier League they struggled to dominate matches as they averaged just 42.3% of possession, a 16% decrease from what they had in the previous season.  

Pierre Lees-Melou is expected to move on and Billy Gilmour has returned to Chelsea after his loan move. 

Kenny McLean was Norwich’s fourth most used player last season as he racked up 2707 minutes in total and Dean Smith will probably lean on his reliability again.  

 

Transfer business 

Isaac Hayden was the first signing Norwich made in this window from Newcastle on a season-long loan deal. 

Hayden himself already has one promotion from the Championship on his CV, although he is set the miss the start of the season through injury.  

They have also added Gabriel Sara to their ranks this season from Sao Paulo as part of a club record deal. 

The Brazilian midfielder will add another spark to the midfield, although he is also expected to miss the start of the season through injury.