1 – Extraordinary
What Philippe Clement is doing at Norwich City isn’t normal. Injuries galore. A depleted squad. Players out of position. No problem.
Yet they keep on winning. This was City’s seventh win in nine matches and fifth in six away games in 2026. That came despite missing their two frontline strikers, a handful of wide options and having only one left back.
If the Championship table started on New Year’s Day, the Canaries would be top with 24 points, one more than Alex Neil’s Millwall. City have won the most games (eight), scored the most goals (21) and have conceded the fewest (eight).
For context, between August 8 and December 31, City sat 23rd in the table. They were four points behind Portsmouth and 10 behind West Brom – they now sit six ahead of John Mousinho’s side and are 10 ahead of the Baggies. It is remarkable.
Clement has transformed City from the second-worst-performing side in the division in 2025 to the best-performing side in 2026. He has squeezed every drop out of a team that looked destined for League One. The turnaround is incredible.
Clement has the highest win percentage of any City boss who has managed over 20 games with 55pc, overtaking Norman Low (1950-1955) and George Swindon (1962). That is made all the more remarkable by the fact that he succeeded the Canaries’ head coach at the bottom of that list, albeit after just 17 permanent matches.
Only five City bosses in history, Alex Neil, Paul Lambert, Tom Parker, Norman Low and Mike Walker, have won more of their opening 20 matches as City manager/head coach than Clement.
2 – Ruthless
Starting with an important Boxing Day victory over Charlton Athletic, the Canaries have played six matches against teams 18th or below, winning them all.
This was the latest case of Norwich taking points from teams below them in the Championship table, inflicting Leicester’s fourth successive home defeat. They are in the bottom three and in danger of dropping to League One.
Since that Boxing Day win, City have not conceded a single goal and have allowed only eight shots on target in those matches. They include a 1-0 win over Charlton, a 5-0 drubbing of West Brom, a 2-0 victory over Blackburn, a Mo Toure inspired 3-0 thrashing of Oxford, a comfortable 2-0 result against Sheffield Wednesday and now a 2-0 win over Leicester.
That mentality and control in key matches has underpinned their rise up the Championship table, with Norwich smothering sides and gaining greater control of matches. Leicester’s final shot in City’s penalty area came in the 71st minute, showing how well they restricted them.
Gary Rowett acknowledged their aggression and will to win the ball. They won five turnovers in the final third and both Ruairi McConville and Jose Cordoba were proactive in their actions, playing with a high line to restrict Leicester’s attack to very little. Vladan Kovacevic had just two saves to make inside the box.
Part of Clement’s revolution has been the strength of their defensive structure. That has been key to their progress.
3 – Super Sammy
When Sam Field’s name emerged as Norwich City’s preferred target for their defensive midfield hunt on deadline day, it didn’t carry the prestige or razzmatazz of others mentioned.
Many wondered how a player struggling to get minutes at Championship rivals QPR could positively impact a City squad in desperate need of results. It feels as though the understated 27-year-old has answered any questions around his arrival. Perhaps the biggest one is now how on earth he wasn’t featuring more often at Loftus Road.
Field has added balance and experience and, alongside Kenny McLean, the security that enables Paris Maghoma, Ali Ahmed and Anis Ben Slimane the freedom to be expressive at the top end of the pitch.
Saturday’s game was Field’s 224th in the Championship. That experience and know-how has been valuable to a Norwich side that is the youngest in the division (24.2).
Field won four of his five ground duels alongside completing two tackles and two blocks. 22 of his 30 completed passes came in Leicester’s half. His introduction to City’s midfield has made their play lopsided to the left, something that suits their current circumstances without a frontline right winger.
There is no option in the summer to convert Field’s move from QPR into a permanent deal and Pelle Mattsson is stepping up his recovery, but it has been an incredibly productive stint at Carrow Road for the midfielder.
Norwich City have enjoyed impressive form on their travels in the Championship. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
4 – Fun on the road
This was Norwich City’s first win at the King Power Stadium since a 3-2 victory over the Foxes in March 2011 on their way to securing automatic promotion to the Premier League under Paul Lambert.
They’ve only beaten Leicester once in 10 meetings since that game, when Jamal Lewis’ goal gave them a pivotal Premier League win in 2020, before the Covid shutdown.
City’s victory continued a fine run of away form. They have now won five of their last six away matches, their best run of results on their travels since that Championship title win in 2020/21, spanning February, March and April.
Clement’s side have won more games away from Carrow Road in 2026 than they mustered in the entirety of 2024/25 under Johannes Hoff Thorup and, for one game, Jack Wilshere, when they won just four times on their travels. It is now seven victories on the road, which is their best for two seasons, including the campaign that ended in a play-off finish under David Wagner.
It is the fastest that City have reached five away wins in a calendar year since 2010 – when Paul Lambert’s side beat Wycombe, Colchester, Walsall, Brighton and Oldham on their way to the League One title. That run occurred between January 2 and February 27, meaning they beat Clement’s squad by a single day.
The City boss wants his side to have the mentality and ability to win all around the country. They are proving more than capable of doing just that.
Ben Chrisene made his 50th appearance for Norwich City in their 2-0 win at Leicester. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
5 – Half century
Ben Chrisene hit a Norwich City milestone in their 2-0 victory at Leicester on Saturday, reaching his half century of appearances for the club.
The left back joined from Aston Villa in the summer of 2024 and has enjoyed an upward trajectory at Carrow Road, even though injuries have played havoc with his ability to enjoy a consistent run in the side.
This run of seven starts in the last eight Championship matches is the longest spell in the side that Chrisene has enjoyed since joining the club last summer. It has largely been born out of necessity with City’s other left back options dropping like flies with injuries.
There was a minor scare in the closing stages at the King Power Stadium after he went down clutching his shoulder. Thankfully, Philippe Clement reported a clean bill of health for the 22-year-old after the game.
Prior to last weekend’s defeat to Birmingham, Chrisene had not experienced defeat at Carrow Road in any game that he had started.
His Norwich City story has been one of gradual improvement, but Chrisene is looking increasingly like a consistent performer in the Championship. Clement will be hoping to keep his game on an upward trajectory at Carrow Road.
Norwich City reunite with Daniel Farke as they take on Leeds United at Elland Road next Sunday. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
6 – Up for the Cup
The pause button has now been pressed on Norwich City’s Championship campaign as they prepare for a mouth-watering FA Cup fifth round clash against Premier League side Leeds United and the small matter of a reunion with Daniel Farke.
This will be the first meeting in this competition between the teams since January 8 1977, when Leeds ran out 5-2 winners. John Bond was City boss with Colin Suggett and Martin Peters on the scoresheet – the Canaries were behind 5-1 at the break.
In fact, for the last and only time that City have progressed past Leeds in the FA Cup came 91 years ago on January 30, 1935 in 2-1 victory in a fourth round replay.
The last person to lead City to an FA Cup quarter-final was Farke, who, against the odds, masterminded a penalty shootout win at Tottenham Hotspur. Since that fifth-round triumph, Norwich have only reached that stage once, when they lost 2-1 to Liverpool in the 2021–22 campaign.
Farke is yet to suffer defeat to City in the six games he has faced against his former club as Leeds boss. In that period, his side have scored 11, conceded three and kept three clean sheets at Elland Road. Norwich have failed to record a win against the Whites since that 3-1 win under the German in their title-winning campaign back in 2018/19.
They will go to Yorkshire as the underdogs. It will be fascinating to see how well they can compete, backed by 3,000 supporters. Bring it on.