Norwich City welcome Sunderland to Carrow Road in a high-noon showdown in the race for Championship Play-Offs.
Victory would see Norwich climb to fifth in the table, whilst Sunderland can go tenth with a win and five points behind Millwall who occupy the final play-off spot in sixth.
Team News
Gabriel Sara is set to feature for Norwich despite missing training earlier this week due to illness.
Josh Sargent (ankle) is set to return but Jonathan Rowe (ankle), and Sam Byram (unspecified) remain absent.
Sunderland will be without Aji Alese for rest of the season after the defender suffered a thigh injury during last weekend’s home loss against Stoke.
Dennis Cirkin (concussion) and Lynden Gooch (hip) are doubts but Niall Huggins (fitness), Corry Evans (knee), Elliot Embleton (ankle) and Ross Stewart (Achilles) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Norwich host Sunderland at Carrow Road on Sunday 12 March at 12pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Norwich are unbeaten in four of their last six meetings against Sunderland (W3, D1, L2).
- Sunderland have lost three of their last five visits to Carrow Road (W2, L3).
- Norwich have conceded three goals in each of their last two home matches against Sunderland.
- No Norwich player has been involved in more league goals this season than Teemu Pukki, as the Finnish striker scored 10 goals and provided seven assists in 31 league appearances.
- Five of Jack Clarke’s nine goals for Sunderland in all competitions this season were scored away from home.
Prediction
Unbeaten in five matches and enjoying an upturn in fortune in terms of their play-off ambitions, Norwich know that a win would them firmly in the hunt for a potential late charge towards a automatic promotion spot.
David Wagner’s Canaries though showed determination, energy and passionate football to fight back to win at Millwall last weekend, which is a significant result given that Millwall are also chasing promotion but Norwich must concentrate on their own momentum now.
Sunderland meanwhile can be a tough team to beat but their defensive quality has slipped in recent games with no wins in four games, yet they have scored in each of their last 19 matches in all competitions despite losing Stewart to injury during that run.
Tony Mowbray however will want his Black Cats to produce a strong reaction to last weekend’s awful 5-1 home defeat against Stoke, so I do expect them to come out fighting and try to make this match as physical as possible.
Norwich though are currently in solid form and with Sargent set to return, I can’t see them slipping up here against a leaky Sunderland defence.
Prediction: Norwich 2-1 Sunderland
Result: Norwich 0-1 Sunderland
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