Norwich City host Bristol City in the Championship on Wednesday evening, hoping to secure their third successive league win and maintain their place at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, the Robins head to Carrow Road winless in their last four league visits and having lost five of their nine league fixtures on the road this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Norwich City secured their 15th league victory of the season as they held on for a 2-1 win away at Cardiff City last weekend.
Early strikes from Grant Hanley and Todd Cantwell gave the Canaries a two-goal lead inside the opening 22 minutes and despite the Bluebirds pulling one back through Joe Ralls, the second half dismissal of Marlon Pack nullified the home side's threat, enabling the visitors to take away all three points.
Victory in Wales extended their lead at the summit of the Championship to four points and they also moved eight clear of Bournemouth in third spot, after the Cherries lost at home to Luton Town.
Norwich have a good record against Bristol City, as they are currently unbeaten in their last nine league matches against them – winning six times and drawing the other three.
Daniel Farke's side also have an impressive home record in recent years, having lost just two of their last 29 home games in the Championship.
Securing another win on Wednesday would extend that record to 30 matches and would put them in a strong position as they aim to bounce straight back up to the Premier League.
© Reuters
Bristol City got back to winning ways as they came out on top against Preston North End, securing a 2-0 home victory on Saturday.
After Famara Diedhiou opened the scoring in the eighth minute, defender Zak Vyner – who adopted a new role in centre-midfield – scored his first goal for the club, to seal the three points at Ashton Gate.
Manager Dean Holden would have been pleased that his side kept a clean sheet for the first time in six matches and now hopes that they can go on a good run of form that can push them into the playoffs.
However, Bristol City head into their clash at Norwich having lost their previous three away games in the Championship. The last time the Robins lost more than three consecutively was between November 2016 and January 2017 under former boss Lee Johnson, when they were defeated six times in a row.
Bristol City have struggled for consistency this season which has seen them fluctuate in and around the playoffs, but a surprise victory on Wednesday could move the Robins back into the top six with a game in hand still to play.
Norwich City Championship form: WWLDWW
Norwich City form (all competitions): WLDWWW
Bristol City Championship form: LLLWLW
Bristol City form (all competitions): LLWLWW
Team News
© Reuters
Norwich could see the return of goalkeeper Tim Krul, who has recently been self-isolating after testing positive for coronavirus. Daniel Barden is likely to drop out if the Dutchman is deemed fit to play.
Left-back Xavi Quintilla remains in self-isolation, while striker Teemu Pukki, who missed the trip to Cardiff with a knock, is hoping to be available for Wednesday's match and could start up front ahead of Jordan Hugill.
Winger Onel Hernandez is back fit for the hosts and is in contention to start, although he faces a tough battle to break into the side ahead of Todd Cantwell and Emiliano Buendia, who have both performed brilliantly in Daniel Farke's side this season.
Bristol City boss Dean Holden has had several injury concerns in recent weeks and remains without a number of first team players.
Summer signing Joe Williams, defender Nathan Baker and midfielder Liam Walsh have all returned to first team training but are still some time away from featuring in the matchday squad.
Full-back Steven Sessegnon is expected to re-join training by the end of the month, while midfielder Jamie Paterson remains out for up to a month following groin surgery.
Jay Dasilva, Callum O'Dowda and Andreas Weimann also remain on the treatment table for the Robins.
With the return of Han-Noah Massengo and Tyreeq Bakinson, Holden could revert to a 3-5-2 formation.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Sorensen; Skipp, McLean; Buendia, Vrancic, Cantwell; Pukki
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Kalas, Mawson; Hunt, Massengo, Nagy, Bakinson, Rowe; Diedhiou, Wells
We say: Norwich City 2-0 Bristol City
The impressive form of Daniel Farke's Norwich City side has seen them slowly break away from the chasing pack in recent weeks.
The Canaries could have both their number one keeper and top goalscorer back in the side which could help them secure another home victory against a Robins outfit who have kept only five clean sheets in 23 league matches so far.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Norwich City win with a probability of 56.91%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Bristol City had a probability of 19.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Norwich City win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.43%) and 2-1 (9.8%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.07%), while for a Bristol City win it was 0-1 (6.26%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Norwich City would win this match.
