Preview: Norwich City vs King's Lynn Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Norwich City and King's Lynn Town will begin their pre-season on Saturday afternoon when they meet at the Avant Training Centre.

The Canaries finished ninth in the Championship last season, while the Linnets finished 19th in the National League North.

Match preview

Norwich missed out on a spot in the playoffs by just eight points last season and will be looking to mount a real promotion push this year.

Philippe Clement has already strengthened his squad with the permanent additions of Sam Field, Andre Brooks and Vinnie Leonard and the loan signing of Bruno Alves.

Clement has done an impressive job since replacing Liam Manning back in November, guiding Norwich to 19 wins, five draws and 10 defeats in 34 games.

Saturday's game will take place behind-closed-doors and is Norwich's first friendly ahead of games against the likes of Colchester United, AFC Wimbledon, Osasuna and Cambridge United.

King's Lynn will also be looking to mount a promotion push next season, having been in the National League North for four consecutive campaigns.

The Linnets came close to earning promotion in 2024-25, reaching the play-offs by finishing sixth in the league before losing to Chorley.

However, they failed to build on that success in the 2025-26 campaign, only managing to avoid relegation by goal difference after drawing 0-0 with Chester on the final day of the season.

Manager Paul Caddis is looking forward to his first full campaign at King's Lynn, having only been in charge for their last 10 games after replacing Ian Culverhouse in March.

Norwich City form (all competitions):

W L W W D L

King's Lynn Town form (all competitions):

L D L L D D

Team News

Norwich will be without the likes of Ali Ahmed, Kenny McLean, Mohamed Toure, Anis Ben Slimane and Jose Cordoba, who have been away at the World Cup with their respective national teams.

Jovon Makama could start up front, having scored 10 goals in 18 starts last season before suffering a serious foot injury, while new signing Field may start alongside Pelle Mattsson in midfield.

King's Lynn will likely start Carlton Ubaezuonu up front, with Ross Crane and Reece Hall-Johnson featuring out wide.

Ronnie Hollingshead is set to start in goal, having joined the club from Aston Villa.

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Kovacevic; Stacey, Darling, Medic, Fisher; Mattsson, Field; Maghoma, Schwartau, Diallo; Makama

King's Lynn Town possible starting lineup:

Hollingshead; Mills, Doherty, Dickens, Lindsay; Hall-Johnson, Woods, Clunan, McCammon, Crane; Ubaezuonu

We say: Norwich City 3-0 King's Lynn Town

Norwich are a much stronger team on paper, even with the absence of several key players, and they should pick up a comfortable victory over King's Lynn.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.