Norwich City welcome fellow strugglers, Manchester United to Carrow Road in a crunch clash at the foot of the Premier League.
A home win could lift Norwich out of the relegation zone whilst Man Utd can go into the top ten with victory.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesBen Godfrey could return from a groin injury picked up last weekend in their goalless draw with Bournemouth.
Ralf Fahrmann (groin) and Mario Vrancic (calf) are close to rejoining the match day squad but won’t be risked this weekend.
Grant Hanley (groin), Christoph Zimmerman (foot) and Timm Klose (knee) all remain long-term absentees.
Manchester United could have Luke Shaw and Nemanja Matic available after recent hamstring and undisclosed injuries respectively.
Paul Pogba (ankle), Axel Tuanzebe (hip), Diogo Dalot (groin), Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah (both knee) however remain sidelined.
Form
Norwich ended a three match losing run with a goalless draw at Bournemouth last weekend, although they have been consistent at home with two wins and losses apiece.
Man Utd ended a five match winless away run in all competitions with victory over Partizan Belgrade on Thursday, but are still without a domestic victory on their travels after losing their last two trips to Newcastle and West Ham respectively.
Stat Attack
- Norwich have won just one of their last six clashes with Manchester United in all competitions (W1, L5).
- Norwich’s last three meetings with Man Utd at Carrow Road have finished in 1-0 results with the Red Devils winning on two occasions to the Canaries’ one.
- None of Norwich’s last starting eleven XI in May 2016 against United are still at Carrow Road.
- Man Utd’s Paul Pogba (2) and Marcus Rashford (2) have as many assists between them as Norwich’s Emiliano Buendia, who has four assists to his name alone.
- Teemu Pukki has the double the number of shots on target in comparison to Utd’s Rashford, firing on target 16 times in comparison to Rashford’s eight.
Prediction
Both teams are beginning to finally show signs of progress after slow starts to the season but Norwich have been the stronger when attacking, although if Man Utd can attack with the same pace that they did against Liverpool then this could be a cracker.
United’s away issues however won’t be fully resolved by Thursday’s performance so I am going for a draw here, because Norwich should have enough to eke out a point from this game.
Prediction: Norwich City 1-1 Manchester United
Result: Norwich City 1-3 Manchester United