Norwich City look to keep their fading survival hopes alive as Dean Smith’s Canaries host Newcastle United at Carrow Road.
Victory would see Norwich move off the foot of the table into 19th position if Watford lose elsewhere, whereas Newcastle can go ninth with a win if Leicester fail to beat Aston Villa elsewhere.
Team News
Brandon Williams will return for Norwich after being ineligible to feature in last weekend’s defeat at his parent club – Manchester United.
Pierre Lees-Melou (cramp) and Kenny McLean (toe) are doubts but Josh Sargent (ankle), Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Andrew Omobamidele (back), Lukas Rupp and Adam Idah (both knee) are ruled out.
Newcastle have no fresh injury concerns to report after their midweek victory over Crystal Palace.
Kieran Trippier (foot), Jamal Lewis (groin), Ryan Fraser (hamstring), Isaac Hayden (knee) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Norwich have lost just one of their last six Premier League meetings against Newcastle (W2, D3, L1).
- Newcastle are winless in their last seven Premier League visits to Carrow Road (D2, L5)
- Norwich have scored three goals in each of their two most recent home wins over Newcastle, as they prevailed 3-2 in April 2016 then 3-1 in August 2019.
- Each of Teemu Pukki’s last four league goals have all been scored after half-time.
- No Newcastle player has made more headed clearances this season than Jamaal Lascelles, with the defender having delivered 56 headed clearances in 21 league appearances.
Prediction
With relegation looking a near certainty, Norwich realistically should begin to look to build some momentum for next season especially after a positive performance at Man Utd where they never gave up even at 2-0 down with strong pace and movement out of defence into attack.
Newcastle meanwhile were simply clinical in their midweek win at home against Crystal Palace but they did waste several chances though, which highlights how well they’ve improved with just three losses in their last 15 league matches – albeit away from home in their last three matches on the road.
This game therefore should be fun because both teams do have the quality to win here but if Newcastle can convert their recent home performances into a strong away effort, they might just have the edge over Norwich who can be defensively vulnerable at times.
In fact, I am going for a late away winner to end Newcastle’s away woes in this fixture.
Prediction: Norwich 1-2 Newcastle
Result: Norwich 0-3 Newcastle