Norwich City will be bidding to return to winning ways in the Championship when they travel to lowly Millwall on Friday evening.
The visitors, who are 12th in the Championship table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 loss at West Bromwich Albion, while 20th-placed Millwall beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 last time out.
Match preview
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Millwall finished eighth in the Championship last season, missing out on the playoffs by a single point, but it has been a tough 2023-24 campaign for the club, who are currently down in 20th spot in the table.
The Lions have a record of six wins, eight draws and 10 defeats from their 24 matches, which has seen them collect 26 points, and they are only six points ahead of the relegation zone.
Joe Edwards's side managed to pick up a huge three points on Boxing Day, though, beating QPR 2-0 on home soil, which stretched their unbeaten run in the Championship to three matches.
Millwall will be determined to give their supporters something to cheer in their final match of 2023, but they have lost their last three games against Norwich and have not beaten the Canaries in the second tier since August 2017, which is an indication of the size of their task in this game.
The capital outfit have struggled at home this season, meanwhile, picking up just 12 points from 12 matches, which is the third-worst record in the division.
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Norwich will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 loss at West Brom on Boxing Day, with Brandon Thomas-Asante's second-half goal proving to be the difference between the two sides.
The result ended the team's five-game unbeaten run in the Championship, which had seen them post three wins against Bristol City, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town to rise the table.
David Wagner's side are 12th, only two points off the playoff positions, and they will be bidding to return to winning ways on Friday ahead of their first match of 2024, which comes against Southampton at home.
The Canaries have struggled for consistency on their travels this season, only picking up 12 points from 12 matches, posting just three wins in the process, but Millwall's struggles at home should hand them confidence heading into this contest.
Norwich were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, and they struggled in the Championship last season, finishing 13th, but the supporters will be expecting their side to be in the playoff mix this term.
Team News
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Millwall will again be missing Casper De Norre due to a calf problem, but the home side are otherwise in good shape heading into their final match of 2023.
Head coach Edwards could name the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against QPR providing that there are no fitness setbacks before then.
Duncan Watmore and Tom Bradshaw have only managed four goals between them this season, but the pair are again expected to be given the nod in the final third of the field.
As for Norwich, Josh Sargent remains unavailable for selection with a ligament problem, while a groin problem will again rule Jakob Sorensen out of the contest.
Dimitrios Giannoulis is also a doubt, and there will be no Borja Sainz, with the Spaniard sent off in the first half of the clash with West Brom at the Hawthorns.
Jonathan Rowe has scored 11 times for Norwich this season, and the 20-year-old will again feature in a wide area, while it should be Adam Idah and Ashley Barnes in the final third of the field.
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Leonard, Harding, Cooper, Bryan; Norton-Cuffy, Honeyman, Saville, Emakhu; Watmore, Bradshaw
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, McLean, McCallum; Rowe, Nunez, Sara, Hernandez; Barnes, Idah
We say: Millwall 1-2 Norwich City
Millwall will bring a three-game unbeaten run into this match, while Norwich suffered a defeat last time out, but we are expecting the away side to triumph here considering their quality in the forward positions.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
