League One outfit Charlton Athletic will welcome Norwich City to the Valley on Sunday afternoon, with a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup on offer for both sides.
Charlton have beaten Havant & Waterlooville and Gateshead to advance to round three, but Norwich have not been in FA Cup action since losing at Barnsley in the fourth round of last season's competition.
Match preview
© Reuters
Charlton, who famously lifted the FA Cup in 1947, have been impressive in this season's tournament thus far, comfortably dispatching Havant & Waterlooville and Gateshead, scoring six times and conceding zero, and they will now be looking to navigate their way into round four at the expense of Norwich.
The Addicks will enter this weekend's match off the back of a 1-0 victory over MK Dons in the EFL Trophy, but they lost their last league fixture at home to Wycombe Wanderers on New Year's Day.
Johnnie Jackson's side are currently 13th in the League One table, boasting 29 points from 24 matches, which has left them 14 points off the playoffs, so it will be very difficult for them to challenge for a return to the Championship for the 2022-23 campaign.
Not since 2006-07 have Charlton played Premier League football, and they are now a long way from the top level but will be keen to prove that they can still compete with top-tier sides on a one-off basis when Norwich visit the Valley this weekend.
The Addicks last locked horns with the Canaries in August 2017, suffering a 4-1 loss at Carrow Road, while they have not beaten Norwich at home in any competition since May 2009.
© Reuters
Norwich, meanwhile, are currently battling for their lives in the Premier League, sitting rock bottom of the division, having picked up just 10 points from their opening 19 matches.
The Canaries have lost their last five league games during a difficult run but have not actually been in action since suffering a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on December 28, as their contest with Leicester City, scheduled for New Year's Day, was postponed following a COVID-19 outbreak in the Norwich squad.
Dean Smith's side will not view the FA Cup as a priority this season, but a win on Sunday could act as a springboard, particularly ahead of a tough trip to West Ham United on January 12.
Norwich beat Coventry City 2-0 in the third round of last season's FA Cup before losing at Barnsley, and it is difficult to imagine them making a serious impression in the 2021-22 tournament.
The Canaries also lost to Charlton when the two teams last locked horns in this competition, which came in the third round back in January 2009.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Charlton are hopeful that leading goalscorer Jayden Stockley will overcome a hip problem to lead the line on Sunday, but on-loan defender Akin Famewo will be unable to face his parent club.
Sam Lavelle and Jake Forster-Caskey are also unavailable for selection, but there will be a number of changes from the side that started against MK Dons in the EFL Trophy.
Conor Washington will feature in the final third of the field for the hosts, while it is likely that Jackson will again opt for a 3-5-2 formation against their Premier League opponents.
As for Norwich, Smith revealed during his pre-match press conference that the club's situation is "a lot healthier", with Milot Rashica, Grant Hanley, Tim Krul, Teemu Pukki, Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell all back.
Lukas Rupp, Andrew Omobamidele, Mathias Normann and Christoph Zimmermann, though, will still be unavailable for selection.
Smith will want to send a competitive team onto the field, but the fact that the Canaries play West Ham in the league three days later means that there will be opportunities for some squad players, so Adam Idah could retain his spot at centre-forward despite Pukki's return.
Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Clare, Elerewe, Pearce; Jaiyesimi, Gilbey, Dobson, Lee, Purrington; Washington, Stockley
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Aarons, Kabak, Hanley, Williams; Gilmour, McLean; Sargent, Cantwell, Tzolis; Idah
We say: Charlton Athletic 1-2 Norwich City
Norwich will view this match as a potential springboard, and they will fancy their chances of winning at the Valley despite their issues in the top flight this season. We are expecting it to be a close match on Sunday afternoon but are backing the visitors to triumph within 90 minutes.
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 Charlton Athletic win with a probability of 52.14%. A win for Norwich City had a probability of 24.66% and a draw had a probability of 23.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Charlton Athletic win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.73%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.33%) and 2-0 (8.37%). The likeliest Norwich City win was 1-2 (6.31%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.84%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Norwich City would win this match.
