[ad_1]
Key events
Otherwise, Norwich make two changes from the side that lost at St Andrews. At left-back, Dimitris Yanoulis replaces Sam McCallum; in midfield, Jakob Sørensen drops to the bench and Marcelino Nunez returns from number 10; and in his place Jonathan Rowe enters for the first time since January.
First things first: any of these sides would be welcome in the Premier League for their courtesy of giving their XIs in positional rather than numerical order. Properly good, honest, old fashioned English football clubs.
Teams!
Norwich City (4-2-3-1): Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, Gibson, Giannoulis; Nunes, McLean; Rowe, Sarah, Sainz; Sergeant. subtitles: Long, Henley, Bath, McCallum, Fisher, Sørensen, Welch, Fasnacht, Van Hooydonk.
Leeds United (4-3-3): Meslier; Bayram, Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo; Gruev, Kamara, Gray; Summerville, Ruther, Gnonto. subtitles: Darlow, Roberts, Cooper, Creswell, Shackleton, Anthony, James, Pirro, Joseph.
Preamble
Charlie Brooker once wrote that although he disliked football, he could find pleasure in it “because all human suffering amuses me”. So we can only assume that, like the rest of us, he takes a maniacal delight in a playoff system specifically designed to make people sick.
Leeds must be wondering how this came to be. Just a few weeks ago they were confident of automatic promotion, boasting a range of diverse attacking talent good enough for the Premier League. However, much to their chagrin – and that of the rest of the division, eager to see them go at the first possible opportunity – they have managed four defeats and a draw from their last six games, with even the lone win struggling. As such, while they may now rally and blow away the opposition… they also seem prepared to endure a devastating heartbreak for our entertainment.
Except that the play-offs are the play-offs, Norwich – who finished sixth, closer to 13th-placed Millwall than Leeds, 17 points clear – finished the season in similarly sketchy form, two draws and one defeat complementing their league schedule. The side that beat Ipswich a month ago could be on display… but so could the side that just lost to relegated Birmingham. Nobody knows anything.
What we do know, though, is that it’s going to be a lot of extremely intense fun. Norwich know they have to, and as the fifth highest scorer in the division, they have the wherewithal to force the issue. However, Leeds have the second best defense and are the fourth highest scorers themselves, meaning chasing them is a dangerous business. So stay tuned, because either today or when the teams reconvene on Thursday night, all-consuming misery is inevitable.
Start: 12:00 BST
[ad_2]
