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Premier League | Gameweek 18
Dec 21, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
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1-2

Cantwell (17')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Saiss (60'), Jimenez (81')

Norwich defender Ben Godfrey ruled out until February with knee injury

The England Under-21 international suffered the problem during Norwich's draw at Leicester.

Head coach Daniel Farke is confident Norwich can cover for injured centre-back Ben Godfrey – and revealed leading scorer Teemu Pukki will be fit for the hectic festive schedule.

England Under-21 international Godfrey suffered a knee injury during last weekend's 1-1 draw at Leicester, but will not need an operation.

Finland frontman Pukki, meanwhile, has shaken off a toe problem, which turned out to be nothing more severe than bruising rather than a fracture as was first feared.

With Norwich battling for points at the wrong end of the table, Farke hopes the squad can all pull together as they prepare for Saturday's visit of Wolves.

"We have some sad news. Ben has a LCL (lateral collateral ligament) tear, so no surgery is required, but he will be out until February," Farke said.

"It was painful for Ben to stay on at Leicester and he mentioned that it didn't feel stable, but he delivered one of his best performances, so it was a shock to discover the extent of the injury."

Farke hopes that with Scotland Grant Hanley stepping up his own rehabilitation after a groin problem and cover being provided by defensive midfielders, Norwich can regroup.

"Grant Hanley has been back in team training for a while, so he is an option for us, but it is not ideal as he has been out for three and a half months," Farke said at a press conference reported by the club.

"We also have Alex Tettey and Ibrahim Amadou who can play there.

"We could change the formation, but whoever is the solution they will be desperate to deliver in a key role next to Christoph Zimmermann."

There was better news on forward Pukki, who scored the opening goal at the King Power Stadium last weekend to take his Premier League tally to nine.

"Teemu is available. The toe wasn't broken, it was just bruised," Farke said. "It was painful for him, but the swelling has gone down."

The Norwich boss added: "I know how capable and full of potential Teemu is.

"He has proved that over a long time, so I'm happy he's able to deliver on a weekly basis."

Farke hopes Norwich can build on the hard-earned point at Leicester to drag themselves out of the bottom three over the final league games of 2019.

"All our performances over the last few weeks were pretty good. I trust my lads and I think we are in a good position to have plenty of games," the German said.

"We had a brilliant win at Goodison Park and a draw at Leicester. We have to pick points wherever we play – and we have three chances in the next fortnight to do that."

Farke added: "Wolves are dangerous on the counters and often defend in 5-4-1.

"They transition well, so it is important for us to be good in possession and avoid giving the ball away easily."

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4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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