Norwich City host Watford at Carrow Road in a blockbuster clash in the race for Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs.
Victory would see Norwich climb as high as fourth if Middlesbrough fail to win elsewhere, whilst a win would see Watford improve to fourth themselves and open a four-point gap to the Canaries.
Team News
Norwich have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 1-1 draw at home to Reading on Friday evening.
Aaron Ramsey (knee), Todd Cantwell (groin), Jacob Sorensen (foot) and Jonathan Rowe (shin) remain ruled out.
Watford have no fresh injury concerns following their 4-0 loss away at Swansea on Friday evening, although manager – Slaven Bilic could rotate his squad for this match.
Kortney Hause, Hamza Choudhury (both knee), Imran Louza, Joao Pedro (both ankle), Edo Kayembe (calf), Dan Gosling, Tom Cleverley (both Achilles) and Rey Manaj (hamstring) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Norwich are unbeaten in three of their last six Championship meetings against Watford (W2, D1, L3).
- Watford have won three of their last five Championship visits to Carrow Road (W3, L2).
- Norwich have lost each of their last three meetings against Watford, of which two games were lost by 1-0 results.
- Grant Hanley has been booked in each of Norwich’s last two home matches.
- Slaven Bilic’s Hornets have scored just two goals in their last five matches (W1, D2, L2), during which they have conceded six goals.
Prediction
Following Dean Smith’s departure, Norwich didn’t really seem to get much of a post-exit bounce but they were crucially more solid and competitive in a closely fought contest, although they will certainly be disappointed to concede a late penalty which denied them the win.
Watford meanwhile were totally lacklustre in their defeat at Swansea with poor defending despite a bright start, whilst they didn’t look like they had much urgency once they conceded first which is worrying for a team who have scored only twice in their last five games.
The first goal therefore is absolutely crucial because if Norwich come out fighting and get in front, I just can’t see Watford getting anything but this game is a must-win for two teams who have been sucked into a fierce play-off battle.
I however would like to see the Hornets at least mount an improved defensive display at minimum despite their injury crisis, but scoring first is vital otherwise Norwich should pick up three vital points if they can continue their own improvements.
Prediction: Norwich 1-0 Watford
Result: Norwich 0-1 Watford
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