West Bromwich Albion welcome Norwich City to The Hawthorns for a top of table showdown.
Victory for the Baggies will see them move above Norwich on goal difference, although the Canaries could restore their two point gap to Leeds with a win after the Whites beat Derby in this weekend’s opening match to move five points clear.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesWest Bromwich Albion will be without Harvey Barnes after the 21 year-old was recalled by Leicester City from his loan deal.
Jake Livermore is their only absentee as he serves the second of a four match ban whilst Dwight Gayle and Ahmed Hegazi are available, after recovering from hamstring strains.
Norwich will be without suspended left back, Grant Hanley who was sent off during their FA Cup exit against Portsmouth.
Emi Buendia and Moritz Leitner (ankle) are both ruled out alongside Jamal Lewis (hamstring) and Louis Thompson (shoulder).
Carlton Morris is nearly ready for a return to the first team after a knee injury kept him sidelined for first half of season. He however won’t be risked here by Daniel Farke.
Form
West Brom enter this game in strong form with just one defeat in last six across all competitions which came in their last league outing, away to Blackburn Rovers.
During that period, they have kept three clean sheets of which two came at home.
Norwich meanwhile have claimed just one win in their last six, taking three draws from last five league games plus a win and defeat.
Away from home, the Canaries are unbeaten in their last 11 but have kept just three clean sheets across those matches, with their last clean sheet on their travels coming at Hull at end of November.
Stat Attack
- West Brom have won three of their last five meetings with Norwich, although four of those games came at Carrow Road (W3, L2).
- Three of those games were won 1-0 by the winning side.
- West Brom have won just one of their last five home games against the Canaries in all competitions (W1, L4).
- There hasn’t been a draw in last 16 meetings since a goalless draw in October 2004, with both sides taking eight wins and eight defeats each.
- West Brom have scored in each of their last 22 home league games.
Prediction
This should be a good battle between two of the Championship’s highest scoring teams, although the momentum is with West Brom.
I therefore am going for a home win but both teams should score at least twice.
Prediction: West Bromwich Albion 3-2 Norwich City
Result: West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Norwich City