Arsenal missed out on the chance to draw level with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after being held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Norwich City side.
The Gunners were ahead on the half-hour mark through Mesut Ozil, who continued his fine individual form to capitalise on John Ruddy's poor clearance.
It was all square before the break at Carrow Road, though, as Lewis Grabban fired home from inside the box on his first start since the opening day.
Both sides went in search of a winner in the second period, with Norwich coming closest to finding one when substitute Gabriel - on for the injured Laurent Koscielny early on - had his header cleared away by Petr Cech to spare his blushes.
There was more bad news to follow for Arsenal, with star performer Alexis Sanchez hobbling down the tunnel with a suspected hamstring injury.
Relive Sport Mole's live coverage of the match below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League meeting between Norwich City and Arsenal at Carrow Road. The Gunners managed to keep their Champions League hopes alive in midweek, but now they must get their domestic campaign back on track following a real setback last time out.
Norwich are in need of a win for different reasons, meanwhile, having lost five of their last six games to drop within just two points of the relegation zone. Sunderland picked up three valuable points in their meeting with Stoke City on Saturday afternoon, while Bournemouth also rescued the points dramatic of draws against Everton, so the pressure is now on Alex Neil's men.
TEAM NEWS!
NORWICH CITY XI: Ruddy; Wisdom, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Howson, Dorrans, O'Neil, Brady; Hoolahan; Grabban
ARSENAL XI: Cech; Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal; Flamini, Cazorla; Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud
Starting with the away side, and the big news is that Aaron Ramsey returns from his injury layoff to start for the first time in more than six weeks. The Welshman was introduced from the bench in the comfortable win over Dinamo Zagreb in midweek, but it was not known whether Arsene Wenger would risk him from the off this afternoon.
That means, perhaps a little harshly, Joel Campbell drops out of the starting lineup for the visitors. The Costa Rica international had possibly his finest game against Zagreb, laying on a beautiful assist for Alexis Sanchez's second, yet he makes way for the returning Ramsey who will slot into a right-sided midfield berth once again.
Sanchez has been suffering with a tight hamstring picked up on Tuesday night, but he is simply undroppable even when only at 75% fitness. The Chilean has laid on assists aplenty for his teammates this campaign, which is an identical case for Mesut Ozil who retains his place in a central attacking midfield position. The ex-Real Madrid man has, in fact, set up seven goals in his last seven league outings - a Prem record.
What about the hosts? Well Alex Neil has made three changes to his side, including a starting role up top for Lewis Grabban. The debate has largely surrounded which one of Cameron Jerome or Diemurci Mbokana would start in the loan-striking position, yet it is Grabban who has been given the nod by his manager for this big Premier League showdown.
That really is a big call by Neil, particularly when taking into account that Mbokani has played a part in three of the Canaries' last five goals, yet a real lack of cutting edge at Stamford Bridge last weekend - largely down to a dearth of creative talent in midfield, in truth - has seen the City manager shake things up a little.
As well as Grabban being handed a first league start since the opening day, Neil has also made two other changes elsewhere. Graham Dorrans replaces Youssouf Mulumbu and Wes Hoolahan comes in for Nathan Redmond, so there is certainly a more fresh feel to this City lineup on the back of their narrow loss to Chelsea eight days ago.
BENCH WATCH!
NORWICH CITY SUBS: Rudd, Martin, Mbokani, Jerome, Mulumbu, Redmond, Odjidja
ARSENAL SUBS: Ospina, Debuchy, Gabriel, Chambers, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adelaide, Campbell
There is one standout name on the Arsenal bench, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain makes the matchday squad for the visitors. Campbell, as already touched upon, is left out for the returning Ramsey out on the right of the Gunners' midfield. In terms of Norwich, they have both Jerome and Mbokani among their backups, while Redmond is another to have dropped to the bench.
Wales international Aaron Ramsey makes a welcome return to the Arsenal starting lineup this afternoon following more than six weeks out through injury.
On the back of Sunderland's win yesterday, and the momentum that the Black Cats have now built up under Sam Allardyce, it is even more important that Norwich themselves turn around their recent poor form. Just one win in their last six has seen them drop to within two points of the relegation zone, and they certainly don't have the nicest run of fixtures ahead.
As well as taking on Arsenal this afternoon, Norwich also face Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United over the next month, so points could prove to be at a premium. That 1-0 victory over Swansea City prior to the international break looked to be huge, but the Canaries must now put some distance between themselves and the bottom three to achieve their goal of survival.
Alex Neil has claimed in the build-up to this one that he is happy with his side's current position in the table, perhaps hinting that being outside the bottom three is essentially all that counts. While that may be true, the East Anglian outfit face the real prospect of dropping into the relegation zone over the next week or so when taking into account other fixtures.
Goalkeeper John Ruddy also talked up the positive mood in the camp, claiming that each member of the squad still remained confident of keeping themselves afloat. It was the togetherness that looked for so long last weekend as though it would get them over the line at Chelsea, but a real lapse of concentration from a quick free kick saw all their hard work essentially count for nothing.
Keeping shutouts has been a real issue for Norwich since their promotion back into the top flight, keeping a league-low one clean sheet and shipping 24 goals in the process so far. Those statistics will need to be improved upon if they are indeed going to keep themselves out of the drop zone, but the selection of Grabban up top suggests that Neil is also concerned by things up the other end of the pitch.
DID YOU KNOW? Arsenal can hold claim to having the best away form in the Premier League, having won 10 out of 13 games on their travels so far this season. The next best side in that respect is Leicester City, who really have taken the Premier League by storm this campaign by also taking 15 points from away fixtures so far.
Arsenal head to East Anglia looking to get their domestic campaign back on track following a recent shaky spell. Supporters of the famous club could be forgiven for thinking as though it is very much a case of same old so far this term; comments which were very much echoed by Thierry Henry earlier today when claiming that his former side may have blown their title hopes already.
As harsh as that may sound, you do get a sense of deja vu when it comes to the Gunners. A sticky start to the season was quickly followed up by eight wins from their next nine league games to put themselves right back in contention at the top. Now the wheels are showing signs of coming off once more, with just two wins in their last six in all competitions.
The win over a poor Zagreb side in midweek ensured that Champions League knockout stage qualification can still be achieved, but the task facing Arsene Wenger's side is still very tough - a two-goal margin of victory being required in Athens next month. The Gunners crashed out of the League quick in quite a humiliating fashion, too, while also losing heavily at Bayern Munich in Europe.
Yet despite taking one point from the last six on offer in games against Spurs and West Brom, Arsenal are still among the frontrunners to end their 11-year wait to lift the Premier League title. A win here today will take them joint-top, while a win of five goals or more will actually see them usurp Manchester City at the summit with over a third of the campaign now played.
Arsenal have won just two of their last six games, yet they still remain in contention to taste success both domestically and in Europe.
I mentioned a little earlier just how important Ozil and Sanchez have been this term, once again proving to be the star men in the 3-0 win over Zagreb. The return of Ramsey is also a major plus for Wenger and his side, though, coming at a time when the growing injury list was beginning to see some question the Frenchman's serious lack of spending during the summer.
With Ramsey back and Oxlade-Chamberlain among the subs, Arsenal are now waiting for the return to full fitness of Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Francis Coquelin among others. All four of those men are vital components to this Arsenal side, but it is arguably the loss of Coquelin - a man who was still on loan at Championship level this time last year - which could provide the biggest blow in the long term.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Norwich have won just one of the last 13 Premier League encounters between these two sides, losing seven games during that run. Ten of Arsenal's last 11 goals in this fixture have come in the second half, meanwhile, so we can expect a cagey opening 45 minutes if the recent past is anything to go by.
It is a busy day in terms of Premier League action, with four games to be played around Britain. We have already seen two matches conclude - Spurs drawing 0-0 with Chelsea and West Ham playing out a 1-1 draw against West Brom. It is the first of those clashes that will have more on a baring on Arsenal, of course, who could have been put under some real pressure by their near neighbours.
So a win by a heavy margin is needed by Arsenal if they are to take top spot from Man City, while Norwich could potentially climb above Chelsea into 14th place should they pick up a two-goal win at Carrow Road. This is a match that will have big bearings at both ends of the table, with kickoff now just a little over five minutes away.
Let's check out the pre-match thoughts from both camps, starting with Arsenal boss Wenger who is expecting the Premier League title race to go right down to the wire.
Arsene Wenger: "Mathematically you cannot rule them out - even the bottom teams are in it. It is so difficult. It is so tight and I don't even look at the league anymore because it is very, very tight. "Last week we had a bad result against West Brom and so did Manchester City [against Liverpool] so it compacted the whole table. I believe it is a big opportunity for us but many teams can tell you that. We are in a position where you want to be after 13 games but there are 25 to go."
Alex Neil: "I've had to come away from my principles and my philosophy. I'm not in Arsene's situation where he's got a world-class team who are worth however many millions. If I was at a club like Arsenal, yes, it would be easier to stick to my principles. But there is a mismatch because we're playing some of the top teams in Europe and we need to try and find an alternative way of getting points. "We're a newly promoted team, trying to find our way in the league."
Both sets of players are now out on the field of play, but there is still enough time to check out the pre-match thoughts of the Sports Mole Sofa team:
KICKOFF! Arsenal get us underway at Carrow Road. A good atmosphere being generated inside the ground by both sets of supporters, so let's just hope the players can feed off that.
The play feels awfully rushed at the moment, which is largely because of the closing down from both teams early on. Norwich sitting back a little more when Arsenal get into their passing groove, but the Gunners yet to really put any attacking moves together.
SHOT! The first attacking piece of play of the contest ends with Sanchez taking a shot on from 20 yards out. The Chilean has gone four games without scoring in the Premier League, but he wasn't too far away with this effort which skipped narrowly wide of the target.
Norwich will look to frustrate their opponents this afternoon, best summed up by their lack of pressing in the Arsenal half. The Canaries simply sitting back now and forming a compact shape of 10 men behind the ball.
A worrying sign for Arsenal here as Koscielny pulls up with what appears to be a hip injury. They have a whole starting lineup of players on the sidelines at the moment, and the Frenchman may be joining them on the growing injury list.
Gabriel being readied on the sidelines, with Koscielny limping around the outside of the pitch. The centre-back will not be returning, so that is a big early blow for the Gunners. The good news - a reshuffle will not be needed with a like-for-like replacement available.
ARSENAL SUB! Gabriel is finally brought on in place of Koscielny. That alteration came after some positive Norwich pressure, which Sanchez eventually thwarted with his clearance on the edge of the box.
Ramsey concedes a free kick when bringing down Olsson in a wide position, which Brady delivers into a dangerous area. Arsenal dealt with the danger well enough, however, ending a rare Norwich attack in the process.
CLOSE! Arsenal's best attacking move of the contest so far culminates in Monreal picking out Ozil in a central position, but the German's shot was deflected wide right in front of goal. Hard to tell if the initial attempt was actually on goal, yet the touch off Bassong so very nearly took it past Ruddy.
Another break in play, this time so O'Neil can receive some treatment following a clash of heads with one of his teammates. Arsenal just about on top in the opening quarter of this match, but Alex Neil will not be all that concerned by what he has seen so far.
CLOSE! Another attack down the left-hand side sees Monreal pick out Giroud, only for the Frenchman to strike to ball wide of the target on the volley. That has to go down as half a chance for Giroud, who is enjoying a prolonged spell in the starting lineup following Walcott's layoff.
Brady is proving to be Norwich's most dangerous player, which doesn't come as any surprise really. Mertesacker stood strong to deny the wideman on this occasion to end a rare foray into an advanced area of the pitch.
The Germany international has been on the periphery of things in the opening quarter of this match. Still goalless at Carrow Road.
Norwich still yet to have a single attempt yet, while all three of Arsenal's shots have been wide of the target. Not been the liveliest of half's, in truth, but 10 of the Gunners' last 11 goals in this fixture have come after the interval.
SAVE! Right on cue, and with nearly a third of the game played, Alexis Sanchez fires in the first shot on target. Santi Cazorla made the move with his fine burst through midfield, before laying it off for his teammate to test Ruddy with a decent stop.
GOAL! NORWICH CITY 0-1 ARSENAL (MESUT OZIL)
Well in an identical manner to Tuesday night's win over Zagreb, Arsenal start pretty slowly but find a way through on the half-hour mark with their first real opening. It was a real howler for Ruddy, who could only clear as far as Sanchez around 45 yards from goal, with the Chilean slipping on Ozil to slot home inside the area.
Ruddy will not want to see that one back. Dorrans actually got to the ball ahead of Sanchez, but the Chilean was quickest to react to the poor first touch and played in Ozil with his first touch. Tidy finish from the German, too, who really is the man of the moment for the Gunners at the moment.
That really changes of the complexion of things now, as Norwich are being forced to come out of their shell a little more. The hosts have still yet to have a single shot of any sort so far - simply not good enough for a top-flight side.
Arsenal playing some decent football now, with Ramsey opting to take on a shot from range which deflects well wide for a corner. Ozil and Cazorla played a short corner, before the latter crossed into a crowded box for a Norwich defender to clear away.
Alexis instigates an attack from deep, playing a ball over the top for Ozil to latch on to. The mercurial midfielder simply ran out of space, though, and ended up in with the pitchside photographers. Doesn't appear to be any lasting injuries, other than perhaps a bruised ego.
Well Ozil ended up in the photographers' pit a couple of minutes ago, and Alexis has now done likewise on the left touchline. Bennett appeared to shove the Arsenal forward when both players were in the air, with the momentum seeing him wipe out the pitchside cameraman. That could have ended much, much worse!
SAVE! Norwich have had their first shot of the evening, and it has come through star man Brady. The midfielder picked up the ball 25 yards from goal unmarked, where he opted to get in a swerving effort that Cech simply shoved to safety.
GOAL! NORWICH CITY 1-1 ARSENAL (LEWIS GRABBAN)
Cech has been a mere bystander all half, but moments after that Brady shot Norwich draw themselves level. Brady was again involved, slipping the ball through for forgotten man Grabban to race on to. The striker, making his first start since the opening day, turned substitute Gabriel far too easily and tucked the ball past Cech.
CHANCE! Three minutes of added time to be played at Carrow Road. The half-time team talks will certainly be a little different now compared to just a few minutes ago, but it could have been even better for the home side. Wisdom sends in a delicious cross that goes right through to Hoolahan, yet the midfielder could only fire over from close range.
HALF TIME: NORWICH CITY 1-1 ARSENAL
So it's honours even at the break, then, following a half that grew more and more entertaining as it wore on. The opening quarter of the match can essentially be written off, with just a couple of half-chances for the visiting side which came to nothing in the end.
Twenty-nine minutes had been played before Alexis Sanchez fired in the first shot on goal, which John Ruddy did well to turn aside for a corner kick. Just a minute or so later Arsenal were ahead, as Ruddy's howler of a clearance landed nicely for Sanchez to play in Mesut Ozil who did the rest from inside the box.
Their was a near mirror image to the half from that point on, because a barren period of play ended with Norwich firing in their first shot on target just 60 seconds before making the breakthrough. Cech denied Brady's initial shot, but from the next attacking move the Irishman played in the returning Lewis Grabban to turn and shoot inside the box.
Gabriel Paulista, an early substitute for the injured Laurent Koscielny, simply had to do better when being brushed aside by the stronger Grabban. Norwich could have taken the lead at the very end of the half, too, as Wisdom's cross was fired over by Hoolahan at the back post. As it is, we remain locked at 1-1 ahead of what should be a fascinating second half.
BENCH WATCH!
NORWICH CITY SUBS: Rudd, Martin, Mbokani, Jerome, Mulumbu, Redmond, Odjidja
ARSENAL SUBS: Ospina, Debuchy, Chambers, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adelaide, Campbell
Mesut Ozil celebrates opening the scoring for Arsenal on the half-hour mark, 13 minutes before Lewis Grabban levelled things up for Norwich City just ahead of the half-time interval.
RESTART! We are back underway at Carrow Road, where there is an instant injury scare for the Gunners. Cazorla catches O'Neil in mid-air, which has left him in some real pain on the ground.
Cazorla is back on the field and looking to shake off that foot injury. Nor sure how long he will last, but the Spaniard appears to be okay for the time being.
Norwich were hoping to come out quick following their strong end to the first half, but that stoppage in play for Cazorla to get checked over has disrupted any momentum they were looking to find. Arsenal struggling with the ball at the moment, too.
Arsenal looking for the eye-of-the-needle pass at the moment, which Norwich are happy enough to deal with. Not seen enough clear-cut chances created by the Gunners thus far. Speaking of which - Ozil's first-half strike makes it 13 goals he has directly contributed to in his last 11 league games.
Another stat for you - Grabban has not lost on any of the last 23 occasions in which he has found the net. His first-half strike pulled Norwich back on level terms, as the Gunners continue now continue to push for a second goal at Carrow Road.
YELLOW CARD! Cazorla is shown the first booking of the evening for simulation. That came after a cross into the Norwich box caused some real panic before clearing behind at the expense of another corner.
YELLOW CARD! O'Neil is furious at the referee's decision to award Arsenal a free kick after he brought down Ramsey on the edge of the box. Looked to be the correct call by Jonathan Moss, and now the Gunners have a good chance to test Ruddy.
Ozil steps up to take the free kick and smashes it straight into the wall from 25 yards out. Not his finest attempt.
A good spell of pressure from Arsenal, but there is some worrying news here as Alexis pulls up with a hamstring injury. He has been struggling all week with a problem, yet the risk to start him has backfired.
ARSENAL SUB! Confirmation of that Sanchez injury - Arsenal's second of the evening - with Campbell coming on in his place. What a huge, huge blow that is for Arsenal over the festive period.
Real excitement around Carrow Road as Brady is given the chance to swing in a free kick from the left. His deliver, often so good, is cut out at the front post. Still no shots on target in this second half, and just the one wayward shot overall.
Arsenal break forward in numbers but Bellerin sees his cross cut out by Brady. The Norwich man has been fantastic yet again today, helping out at both ends of the field. No momentum there for the Gunners at the moment, as we enter the final 24 minutes of this match.
Bellerin picked out in space on the right for a second time in quick succession, yet he fires the ball into the side-netting with a miscued shot rather than picking out a better placed teammate. Very frustrating for those travelling Arsenal supporters.
Norwich have some decent striking options on the bench, with both Jerome and Mbokani available, but Neil has yet to make his first change. Wenger a little more cautious with his next sub, having been forced into making two already.
SAVE! Petr Cech has just pulled off one of the saves of the season to keep Arsenal level. Olsson's cross was flicked on by Gabriel towards the bottom corner of his own net, but the experienced keeper was down to his left in an instant to flick it behind.
CHANCE! From the resulting corner the ball lands nicely to Howson just six yards out, but he smashes over the bar on the turn. Glorious chance, that! Redmond is now on for Norwich in place of Howson, while Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces a tiring Ramsey.
Laurent Koscielny limped off for Arsenal early on, but an even bigger blow was to come when Alexis Sanchez followed him down the tunnel with a suspected hamstring injury.
Giroud heads over from Oxlade-Chamerlain's right-sided cross, moments after Dorrans blasted high over the bar up the other end of the pitch. This second half has lacked any real quality, other than Cech's huge save to potentially rescue his side a point. Twelve minutes left to go in East Anglia.
CHANCE! Redmond and Oxlade-Chamberlain have added some pace for their sides, and it is the Norwich sub who has provided more of an attacking impetus. It's all City at the moment, with Gabriel cutting out Olsson's pass that was destined to be tapped home by Grabban without the Brazilian's intervention. Brady played a big part in the build-up to that move.
Arsenal have seen 70% of the ball in this second half, but you wouldn't know it from what we have seen. Norwich are the better side at the moment and looking the more likely to score an all-important third goal of the evening over these final eight minutes or so.
City appear to be sitting back a little more all of a sudden, which is simply inviting pressure. Just when the pressure was beginning to tell, Bellerin comically overhits the ball to the joy of the home supporters. Norwich preparing to make a double change.
NORWICH CITY SUBS! Hoolahan and Grabban are replaced by Odjidja and Jerome. Grabban has sent out a real message to his manager today - can the man who has replaced him do likewise? Time really ticking down now.
Campbell can't quite get his head to Oxlade-Chamerlain's cross. I can't remember Arsenal actually creating a single chance since being pegged back to 1-1 in the first half. The best opening of this second half came up the other end, when Cech turned behind Gabriel's goalbound flick-on and Hoolahan blasted over from the resulting corner.
Norwich live dangerously when defending a set piece, but they then hit Arsenal on the counter. Jerome swings in a cross from the right which was going straight through to Cech, yet Bellerin slid in to concede a corner for some reason. Lack of communication, I guess.
Norwich throwing everything they have at their opponents - they are not happy with just one point when all three are there for the taking. Two minutes of added time to go.
Jerome's pass has too much on it for Brady to reach, so what could have been one final Norwich attack comes to a halt. Sixty seconds left to play at Carrow Road, with both sides not happy to settle for a draw.
Bellerin's deep cross is cleared away well. Real pressure from Arsenal at the death, with the ball cleared away just before Giroud could turn it home with his head.
FULL TIME: NORWICH CITY 1-1 ARSENAL
Norwich City see out the closing few seconds to earn themselves a valuable point in their hopes of survival. It was the Canaries who looked to more likely to score at certain points in the second half, but they will be delighted to have taken a draw in the end.
Arsenal miss out on the chance to draw level with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, then, having been held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Norwich City side. The Gunners were ahead on the half-hour mark through Mesut Ozil, who continued his fine individual form to capitalise on John Ruddy's poor clearance.
It was all square before the break at Carrow Road, though, as Lewis Grabban fired home from inside the box on his first start since the opening day. Both sides went in search of a winner in the second period, with Norwich coming closest to finding one when substitute Gabriel - on for the injured Laurent Koscielny early on - had his header cleared away by Petr Cech to spare his blushes. There was more bad news to follow for Arsenal, with star performer Alexis Sanchez hobbling down the tunnel with a suspected hamstring injury.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events at Carrow Road. Stick around for all the reaction, as well as player ratings and analysis over the next hour or so.
