Norwich head coach David Wagner praised his players for turning their season around after watching them record a comfortable 2-0 win over his former club Huddersfield at Carrow Road.
A poor run of form in the autumn had seen the Canaries slip into the bottom half of the Championship, but they have now won five games from eight to move to within two points of the play-off places.
Their latest success came courtesy of second-half goals from Sam McCallum and Borja Sainz.
Wagner said: “The players deserve all the credit for the way they reacted to that bad run.
“They went through a difficult spell but they stood together, kept their heads up and never felt sorry for themselves.
“They said ‘we are better than this, we can do better than this’ and have put together a good run to get us back up the table.
“Now we have players coming back and the challenge is to keep this going, keep delivering, like we did today.
“I thought this was another good step in the right direction – a good result, a clean sheet and also a good overall performance, which I was also pleased about.
“Sometimes when opponents sit so deep you can get frustrated when the goals don’t come early but we stuck at it and once we scored early in the second half I thought we controlled the game. We created a lot of opportunities and could have scored more goals.”
The Canaries took a deserved lead 90 seconds into the second half as half-time substitute McCallum headed in his first goal for the club.
Sainz curled in a second with 17 minutes left.
A disappointing Huddersfield side failed to register an effort on goal until the 87th minute, when the outcome had long since been decided.
Manager Darren Moore felt his side were punished for a couple of lapses in concentration.
“We had defended well in the first half, while we also had a good impetus in the game for a while, but we switched off a couple of times for their goals which is disappointing,” he said.
“For the first goal it was second phase from a corner and they put in a good cross which the lad has headed in. We needed to be concentrating better then because you never like conceding goals like that from set pieces.
“It was a similar story with the second goal and you cannot afford that against a good side like Norwich.
“I am certainly not complaining about the effort the lads put in today and there were times when he had the ball and got into some promising positions.
“When we get there we need to be more determined, arrogant if you like, to make more of our chances.”
Silva targets derby win to cap more 'complete' Fulham season
Marco Silva believes Fulham's displays have been more "complete" this season than they were last term, and he is desperate to give their fans another result to savour ahead of Saturday's West London derby at Brentford.
While some expected Fulham to struggle this season after talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic left for Al-Hilal, they sit safely ensconced in 13th in the Premier League table with 43 points.
Fulham have only taken four points from their last five Premier League games, though, and Silva is aware their next match carries more importance than most for supporters.
"These types of games are special for our fans, Silva said. "I prepare my team in the same way for every match, but we want our fans to have a good feeling after tomorrow.
"We have to recognise that this group of players have been doing a fantastic job for this football club in the last two seasons in the Premier League.
"With the way we have played in some matches, this season has been more complete than last season."
Brentford, on the other hand, have fallen short of expectations this season but saw their safety confirmed before they took to the field for a 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park last week.
Thomas Frank's men are almost certain to record their lowest finish since their 2021 promotion, but forward Yoane Wissa is relieved that they can plan for another year at the top level.
"Everyone is happy to be safe. We have been a bit unlucky this season overall in terms of the injuries and some of the results we have had," Wissa said.
"There is always room for improvement, but we know the main aim is always to be safe.
"We are settled as a Premier League club, but we know it is always difficult in this league. We have seen how hard it has been at times this year and we are ready to do better next season."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brentford – Ivan Toney
Having netted four goals in his first five Premier League games after returning from suspension in January, Toney has not scored in any of his last nine.
It is his longest run without a league goal since a run of 10 with Peterborough United between February and April 2019, something he will be looking to end on Saturday.
Fulham – Timothy Castagne
With a goal against Liverpool and an assist against Crystal Palace, Castagne is looking to register a goal involvement in three consecutive Premier League games for the second time, previously doing so in September 2020 in his first three appearances in the competition for Leicester City.
MATCH PREDICTION – BRENTFORD WIN
Brentford have won five of their last seven matches against Fulham in all competitions (two losses), winning their last two in the Premier League against their London rivals.
However, since enjoying a 14-match unbeaten Premier League run in London derby matches between October 2022 and November 2023, Brentford have lost five of their last six (one draw).
Indeed, before this, the Bees had only lost five of their first 27 London derbies in the competition (12 wins, 10 draws).
Fulham have lost six of their last seven away games against Brentford in all competitions, winning the other game 2-0 in November 2016 under Slavisa Jokanovic.
Fulham have won two of their last five Premier League away games (one draw, two defeats), after only winning one of their first 12 on the road this season (four draws, seven defeats). The Cottagers are looking to win back-to-back away league matches for the first time this campaign.
Having beaten Sheffield United 2-0 in their last outing at the Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford are targeting just their second set of back-to-back home wins in the Premier League this season, and with the pressure lifted against poor travellers, they are favourites to achieve that feat.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brentford – 43.8%
Draw – 28.3%
Fulham – 27.9%
Klopp says Salah spat a 'non-story', does not expect forward to push for move
Jurgen Klopp says his bust-up with Mohamed Salah has been resolved and does not believe the Liverpool forward will push to follow him through the exit door at the end of the season.
Klopp and Salah became embroiled in a heated confrontation on the sidelines during Liverpool's 2-2 draw with West Ham last week, as the out-of-form Egyptian waited to come on as a substitute.
The Reds boss played down the incident in his post-match press conference but Salah did the opposite in the mixed zone, telling reporters: "If I speak, there will be fire."
However, Klopp reiterated on Friday that he considers the matter closed, saying: "It is completely resolved. It is no problem.
"If we didn't know each other for that long I don't know how we would deal with it, but we've known each other for that long and we respect each other.
"I think we have the right to deal with these things completely independent of any expectations from the outside. It is a non-story. In general, everyone is in the best possible place.
"If we win the games and score loads of goals, then the situation would not have been exactly like that because Mo would not have been on the bench in the first place."
Last week's incident led to renewed speculation regarding Salah's future at Anfield, with the Egyptian preparing to enter the final 12 months of his contract with the Reds.
Salah, who was the subject of a £150million bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad last year, has scored 17 Premier League goals this season but only three of those have come since New Year's Day.
Before going to the Africa Cup of Nations – where he suffered a hamstring injury – Salah boasted a shot conversion rate of 21.54 per cent in the Premier League for 2023-24, netting with 14 of his 65 attempts. Since returning, he has only converted three of 35 (8.57 per cent).
While Salah's long-term future is none of Klopp's concern, he does not see any signs of the Egypt star pushing for a move.
"You all have to get used to the fact that is not my subject," Klopp added. "Mo, as a player, is incredible and I don't think I should speak about that. Other people will decide that, especially Mo.
"I don't have any signs it will be like that. I just try to prepare the basis for the future."
Liverpool host Tottenham on Sunday, with the Premier League title now surely beyond them as they trail Arsenal by five points and Manchester City – who have a game in hand – by four.
Arteta hoping to make more fond memories as Arsenal host Bournemouth
Mikel Arteta has fond memories of the last time Arsenal faced Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium and believes the never-say-die spirit they showed in that match could prove key in this season's title race.
Arsenal came from 2-0 down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 last March, with Reiss Nelson hitting a 97th-minute winner as the Gunners' supporters began to believe in their title dream.
Arteta's men ultimately came up short in the run-in in 2022-23, but they hold a slender one-point lead over City as they bid to go one better in 2023-24, though City have a game in hand.
Reflecting on the Cherries' last visit to the Emirates, Arteta said the resilience shown on that day has become a key characteristic of his side.
"I have a great memory because the game ended in a really beautiful way and it was one of the highlights of the season, so we know we're going to have to earn it tomorrow," he said.
"It's going to be a really tough match but the team is ready."
Asked about the importance of finding different ways to win, he added: "It's important at any stage, but now obviously with what is there to win, we know that we're going to have to win games in different ways and that could be one way.
"Hopefully tomorrow it's not like that but if it has to be, then that's welcome."
Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth are eyeing a top-half finish after winning five of their last eight games, and they surpassed their previous record points tally for a Premier League season by reaching 48 with last week's 3-0 thrashing of Brighton and Hove Albion.
Iraola, however, wants more, saying: "It's good news. It's something we were trying to get to in the past few weeks but now we still want more points.
"We have three very difficult games starting with tomorrow, but we are going to keep trying to be competitive in every game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal – Kai Havertz
Havertz's first Premier League goal for Arsenal came in their 4-0 win at Bournemouth in the reverse fixture. The German has been involved in 13 goals in his last 11 league games for the Gunners, scoring eight and assisting five.
Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert
Bournemouth's Kluivert has registered as many goal involvements in his last six Premier League games (four – three goals, one assist) as he had in his first 23 in the competition (four goals).
MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal have won all six of their home Premier League matches against Bournemouth. The Gunners have only played more home games against Stoke while maintaining a 100 per cent record (10/10).
Arsenal have also won 13 of their 15 Premier League games so far in 2024, dropping points only against City (0-0) and Aston Villa (0-2). However, the Gunners have conceded four goals in their last four league games, as many as in their previous 11 combined.
However, Bournemouth have only picked up five points in 13 Premier League matches against Arsenal (one win, two draws, 10 losses) and have never kept a clean sheet against the Gunners. The Cherries have only played more games against City (14) without recording a shutout.
Bournemouth have won 1-0 at Wolves and 3-0 against Brighton in their last two Premier League games – never before have they won three consecutive top-flight games without conceding.
Arsenal have scored a league-high 85 goals in their 35 Premier League games this season, with their average of 2.4 goals-per-game their highest across a single campaign since 1934-35, when they scored 115 goals in 42 matches (2.7 per game).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Arsenal – 70.2%
Draw – 19.3%
Bournemouth – 10.5%
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