Norwich City vs Stoke City. Premier League.
Carrow RoadAttendance26,771.
Saturday 22 August 2015 15:12, UK
Stoke City go in search of their first Premier League win of the season when they travel to newly-promoted Norwich on Saturday.
Mark Hughes' squad have been boosted by the addition of several summer acquisitions including Xherdan Shaqiri, who is expected to make his debut, yet the Potters haven't been able to claim three points.
A defeat to Liverpool on the opening weekend was improved upon last week, as they came from two goals down to draw at Tottenham.
Norwich, meanwhile, got their first win following promotion to the top flight at Sunderland and now set their sights on claiming their first points at Carrow Road, following their opening day loss to Crystal Palace.
Team news
Norwich boss Alex Neil has no new injury concerns, with the Canaries likely to stick with the same starting line-up that won at the Stadium of Light last weekend.
However, the clash comes too soon for both defender Martin Olsson (shoulder) and forward Kyle Lafferty (knee) but both are set to return to contention ahead of their next league outing at Southampton, while Ricky van Wolfswinkel may yet feature having scored for the U21 side in midweek.
Shaqiri is set for his Stoke debut on Saturday, while it remains to be seen whether Bojan Krkic makes his first-team comeback.
Record signing Shaqiri is now available after a one-game ban denied the winger his bow in the 2-2 draw at Tottenham last Saturday - the same day playmaker Bojan completed 90 minutes for the Potters' U21 side as he stepped up his recovery from a long-term knee injury.
Marc Wilson is another who could make his first appearance of the season having shaken off an ankle complaint, and Jonathan Walters is expected to be available despite having recently felt ill, but Peter Odemwingie (hamstring) is still sidelined along with Ryan Shawcross (back).
Stats
Norwich have lost just one of their last 10 league meetings with Stoke City at Carrow Road (W5 D4 L1).
Nathan Redmond has scored five goals in his last six appearances for Norwich City.
Neil has won 18 of his 27 competitive games in charge of Norwich City; predecessor Neil Adams managed just 11 wins from 32 matches.
On the last occasion that these two sides met in the Premier League (March 2014), Walters scored and was the sent off; his only Premier League dismissal.
Stoke have collected just three points from 18 available in their last six league away matches (D3 L3).
The last time Norwich won as many as two Premier League games in August within the same season was in 1993-94 (3).
Merson's prediction
I watched Norwich against Sunderland and they played really well and got a good result. The week before they were unlucky against Palace as they had a few chances, missed them and then that was it.
Stoke came back against Spurs to get a draw but I think they will be a bit open without Ryan Shawcross and Norwich will have a go. There will be goals in this.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Sky Bet make Norwich 11/8 shots to secure three points against Stoke (21/10). The sides shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw the last time they met at Carrow Road and the Football League sponsor are offering 9/2 for a repeat out that outcome and 11/5 for a draw. Cameron Jerome is 9/4 to net anytime for the hosts with Shaqiri 11/4 to get his name on the scoresheet for Stoke.
