Norwich City take on Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday afternoon looking to move a step closer to winning the Championship title.
Meanwhile, Wednesday begin the weekend sitting seven points adrift of safety with recently-appointed boss Darren Moore still looking for his first win in charge.
Match preview
© Reuters
Despite 11 matches still remaining in Norwich's season, it will not be lost on Daniel Farke that 24 points are required to guarantee a return to the Premier League after just a year away from the top flight.
With each of their promotion rivals likely to endure blips along the way, the scenario is far more attractive to the Canaries, whose biggest concern will be complacency ahead of the run-in.
Teemu Pukki has now scored nine goals in just seven appearances, while Emiliano Buendia has chipped in with eight contributions in the final third over the same period.
While the influence of the pair cannot be overstated, Norwich have gained a greater advantage at the top of the table through conceding just two goals.
Their fifth clean sheet arrived against Luton Town last weekend, maintaining the momentum ahead of a favourable run of games against Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers before the international break.
© Reuters
At a time when Norwich are on the brink of another campaign in the top flight, their opponents currently look destined for a return to League One.
With the club believed to be in severe financial trouble, Darren Moore knows that a rebuild in the third tier is now a realistic possibility.
Nevertheless, despite six defeats in succession, the new arrival must remain focused on trying to gain the seven wins from 12 matches which well may be required to avoid the drop.
Wednesday only succumbed to two late goals in the reverse fixture back in December, a performance which could give this squad some much-needed belief ahead of one of their toughest fixtures on the calendar.
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Despite having had a week to prepare for this game, Farke may decide to replace Lukas Rupp with Mario Vrancic.
Barring any late injury issues, the remainder of the Norwich XI could stay the same.
Wednesday will be without Julian Borner after the defender was sent off against Reading last weekend.
Cheyenne Dunkley could come back into the middle of defence, while Moore must decide whether to select Liam Shaw, with the midfielder having signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic.
Callum Paterson should retain his place in attack, despite failing to score in his last seven outings.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Wildsmith; Urhoghide, Dunkley, Lees, Palmer; Harris, Bannan, Hutchinson, Shaw, Reach; Paterson
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Giannoulis; McLean, Skipp; Buendia, Vrancic, Cantwell; Pukki
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Norwich City
On the back of a lengthy streak without recording any points, Wednesday can play with a degree of freedom against the runaway leaders. However, that is unlikely to change the end result with the Canaries capable of strolling to victory with minimal fuss.
Top tip
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 55.29%. A draw had a probability of 25.5% and a win for Sheffield Wednesday had a probability of 19.18%.
The most likely scoreline for a Norwich City win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (11.5%) and 1-2 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.79%), while for a Sheffield Wednesday win it was 1-0 (7.59%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Norwich City would win this match.
