Daniel Farke will make his return to Carrow Road on Saturday, as he leads Leeds United into battle away at former club Norwich City.
On the return of league action following the recent international break, the two sides find themselves separated by just two points at the top end of the Championship table, with the visitors sat fifth and the hosts occupying seventh spot.
Match preview
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On their return to action from the recent international break, Norwich City find themselves seventh in the Championship with 17 points on the board from their opening 11 outings, having initially enjoyed a fast start under David Wagner.
Aiming to improve on last season's underwhelming 13th-placed finish, the Canaries picked up three victories and a draw from their first four outings, before bouncing back from a first defeat against Rotherham United with a 1-0 triumph over Stoke City to move onto 13 points from six matches.
They have been unable to build on that impressive run since though, adding just four more points to their tally in the last five games in England's second tier, firstly losing 2-0 to Leicester City and suffering a 6-2 thrashing away at newly-promoted Plymouth Argyle.
Wagner's men would then bounce back with a 2-0 beating of Birmingham City, thanks to goals from Gabriel Sara and Jon Rowe, but they headed into the international break on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City and, most recently, a 1-1 draw away at Coventry City as they led through Rowe until Ben Gibson's own goal in the 88th minute.
With the international break halting their tough spell, Norwich will aim to bounce back to their best at the weekend on their return to league action and score a victory to climb back into the top six and above their visitors.
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In their way stand a Leeds United side managed by Daniel Farke, who led the Canaries to two Championship titles in his four-year stay at Carrow Road between 2017 and 2021.
He was tasked with inspiring another promotion to the Premier League in the 2023-24 season as new Leeds United manager following their relegation from the top flight last time around, but the Whites did not enjoy the fast start they had hoped for, heading into the first international break of the campaign with six points on the board from five outings.
The Yorkshire outfit have certainly shown signs of improvement since, though, as they went on to win four and draw one of the next six games in England's second tier, starting with 3-0 beatings of Millwall and Watford either side of a draw away at Hull City, before a trip to fellow relegated side Southampton ended in a 3-1 defeat.
Farke's men succeeded in instantly bouncing back to winning ways at the beginning of October, beating Queens Park Rangers 1-0 thanks to Crysencio Summerville's early goal, before most recently making it back-to-back league triumphs for the first time this season before the break, hosting Bristol City and coming out as 2-1 winners having initially gone ahead through Daniel James before Joel Piroe restored their lead and sealed all three points early in the second half.
Thanks to that result and their improvement between the two layoffs, Leeds now find themselves fifth in the Championship after 11 games with just a one-point gap up to third-placed Preston North End and a nine-point gap to the top two, and they will now aim to pick up where they left off with another three-point haul on Saturday in their bid to close the gap to the early runaway leaders Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
Team News
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The break in league action may not have done too much to help Norwich City's injury issues, as they remain without strikers Joshua Sargent and Ashley Barnes as well as midfielder Marcelino Nunez and defenders Grant Hanley and Jacob Sorensen.
In the absence of Sargent and Barnes, Adam Idah should again get the nod to lead the line, having netted four league goals so far this term, while 20-year-old winger Jon Rowe has been their star man in attack thus far with six Championship goals to his name.
Christian Fassnacht and Onel Hernandez are both fighting to come back into the attacking unit, after Liam Gibbs and Przemyslaw Placheta joined Rowe in a supporting trio against Coventry, while Gabriel Sara and Kenny McLean will again partner up at the base of midfield in front of the established centre-back pairing of Ben Gibson and Shane Duffy.
With Junior Firpo, Djed Spence, Stuart Dallas, Jamie Shackleton, Jaidon Anthony and Willy Gnonto all likely remaining sidelined through injury at the weekend, Daniel Farke may opt to deploy an unchanged Leeds starting XI from their 2-1 victory over Bristol City before the break.
That could mean 17-year-old midfielder Archie Gray starts again on the right-hand side of a back four, with Glen Kamara joining Ethan Ampadu in midfield, while Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk should again get the nod over club captain Liam Cooper to start at the heart of the defence.
At the top end of the pitch in their 4-2-3-1 shape, Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter will again operate through the centre, with the former having notched up five goals in just eight Championship appearances this season following a switch from Swansea City, while in the absence of Gnonto and Anthony, Crysencio Summerville and Daniel James should both keep their places on the wings.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, Gibson, Giannoulis; McLean, Sara; Fassnacht, Gibbs, Rowe; Idah
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Gray, Struijk, Rodon, Byram; Ampadu, Kamara; Summerville, Piroe, James; Rutter
We say: Norwich City 1-2 Leeds United
Saturday certainly presents a tough trip for Leeds United, but the Whites appear to be gaining momentum under their new manager while their hosts have struggled for consistency after a strong start, and we fancy Farke to come out on top on his Carrow Road return this weekend.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
