Norwich City will begin their preparation for the upcoming Premier League campaign on Tuesday, when they welcome Lincoln City in a pre-season friendly.
The Canaries earned promotion back to the top flight by topping the Championship last season and started the pre-season campaign with a 3-1 victory over King's Lynn Town, while their opponents fell to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Boston United in their most recent outing.
Match preview
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After dropping down to England's second tier in the 2019-20 season, Norwich City made an immediate return, as they led the Championship table for the majority of the campaign.
Daniel Farke's men secured the title with an eye-catching tally of 97 points from their 46 games, while losing just seven of those matches.
They kicked off pre-season with a clash against neighbours King's Lynn Town, and they came away with a 3-1 victory on their travels.
The Canaries took a 2-0 lead through a Kieran Dowell brace, but Ross Barrows pulled a goal back for the hosts on the stroke of half time before Adam Idah restored the two-goal cushion in the dying minutes.
They will now look to record a second straight win to build momentum going into the campaign, as they aim to avoid the drop this time around in the top flight.
Meanwhile, their opponents will hope to bounce back with a positive performance after a disappointing defeat last time out.
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The Imps took on fellow Lincolnshire outfit Boston United away from home on Saturday, and it took the hosts just 12 minutes to take the lead through Jordan Preston, before Danny Elliott immediately doubled that lead.
Another Elliott strike would follow alongside goals from Jordan Burrow and Jake Wright to see the non-league outfit pick up an eye-catching victory.
That was a huge hit to Lincoln's pre-season campaign, as they desperately look to go one better than last season and win promotion to the second tier.
Last year, they led the table for the majority of the campaign, only dropping out of the automatic promotion places due to a disappointing run of form in the final months, but would bounce back with a 3-2 aggregate win over Sunderland in the playoff semi-finals.
They would go on to meet Blackpool in the final with a chance to retake their place in the Championship, and they made the perfect start, taking the lead inside the first minute through an Ollie Turton own goal.
Kenneth Dougall would then hit a brace to turn the game on its head, with Lincoln unable to draw level and eventually succumbing to a 2-1 defeat.
They will hope to improve on that in the upcoming campaign, starting with a solid run of performances in pre-season to build confidence.
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Team News
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Norwich City should again use this opportunity to take a look at some of their new stars heading into the Premier League campaign, with the likes of Milot Rashica and Billy Gilmour likely getting more minutes under their belt.
Rashica recently arrived from Werder Bremen following the departure of talisman Emiliano Buendia, who left for Aston Villa following Norwich's return to the Premier League.
Angus Gunn will continue to feature between the sticks, having joined the Canaries on a permanent deal from Southampton after a loan spell in the 2017-18 season.
Todd Cantwell will also likely be deployed from the start alongside Kieran Dowell, after the Norwich-born attacking midfielder featured in the second half of their friendly against King's Lynn Town.
While Lincoln City did deploy several members of the first-team squad on Saturday, there was a heavy focus on trialists and generally working on the side's fitness, but they are unlikely to approach Tuesday's clash against a Premier League side in the same way.
Attacker Chris Maguire featured in the first half of that game, having recently arrived after leaving Sunderland at the end of last season.
Midfielder Liam Bridcutt will again lead his side out as captain, lining up alongside Conor McGrandles in the centre.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Mumba, Zimmermann, Omobamidele; Sorensen, Rupp, Gilmour, Rashica; Cantwell, Idah, Dowell
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Long; Poole, Eyoma, Jackson, Bramall; Brooks, McGrandles, Bridcutt; Longdon, Hopper, Maguire
We say: Norwich City 3-0 Lincoln City
Norwich are expected to put up another fairly dominant victory on Tuesday, and they should have more than enough to do that with the majority of their stars on display.
Players will be keen to impress Farke to help their chances of earning a starting spot for the opening Premier League game, potentially leading to a performance of higher quality than the win over King's Lynn, especially now they have minutes in the tank.
Sam Varley
