Norwich City vs Huddersfield
England League Championship
Date: Friday, 16th December, 2016.
Kick-Off at 19:45 UK
Venue: Carrow Road, Norwich.
Match Preview
Norwich City hosts Huddersfield Town in the 21st round of the Championship match on Friday, where the home side will look to rally their way upward on the league table.
After a blistering start to the season, Norwich City faltered significantly on recent games. Alex Neil’s men have lost six out of their last seven Championship matches, which have left them with just 30 points from possible 60 points. A win on Friday will take them in the fourth place on the table temporarily.
uddersfield, on the other hand, looks in decent form as they are in the fourth place of the Championship table. With 33 points credited to them, they are in contention to progress to Barclays Premier League next season.
Norwich won their last game 1-0 against Aston Villa thanks to the goal from Nelson Oliviera. Similarly, Huddersfield prepared for this game with a same scoreline win vs. Burton Albion. Nakhi Wells scored last into the game to give Huddersfield all three points.
Out of last six matches played between these sides, Norwich City were victorious in three of them while Huddersfield has managed to disappoint their counterparts only once.
Team News: Norwich City
Injury concerns for Norwich City are relatively minor as only Matt Jarvis is set to miss the match due to a knee injury.
Striker Nelson Oliveira will lead the attack for the home side. Meanwhile, manager Alex Neil is likely to field his players in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the likes of Youssouf Mulumbu, Alex Pritchard, and Jacob Murphy pairing up in the attacking midfielder’s role.
Norwich: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Ruddy – Bassong, Brady, Pinto, Bennett – Howson, Dorrans – Murphy, Pritchard, Mulumbu – Oliveira
Team News: Huddersfield Town
Sean Scannell and Joe Lolley are ruled out of the trip to Norwich due to injury problems, while defender Mark Hudson will miss the match due to a knee injury. He is expected to be back in the team on Boxing Day.
Huddersfield won their last Championship match 1-0 against Burton Albion. Thus, manager David Wagner is likely to reprise the same squad on the match against Norwich City as well.
Huddersfield Town: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Ward – Lowe, Schindler, Hefele, Smith – Hogg, Mooy – van La Parra, Palmer, Kachunga – Wells
Norwich City vs Huddersfield: Head-to-head Stats
The two teams met for the first time after a five year long gap during the Championship season 2014/15. Norwich cruised to a 5-0 win in the match at the Carrow Road on that occasion, while Huddersfield managed to earn a 2-2 draw in the return leg at their home ground.
Norwich will be coming into this match on the back of a 4 match unbeaten record against Huddersfield, with 3 wins and 1 draw between home and away matches. The last 10 matches between the two sides saw the Canaries winning 4 times as against Huddersfield’s 2, while 4 matches ending in draw.
At the Carrow Road, Norwich are unbeaten in the last 5 with 3 wins and 2 draws. The last two were wins without conceding.
Norwich City vs Huddersfield: Prediction
Huddersfield can be seen as a genuine contender for a play-off spot this season. They are a hard-working side which the capability of upsetting the odds on any given day. But their away form coming into this match is pretty poor as they were beaten in 5 of the last 8, managing 2 wins and a draw during the period.
Norwich City have a good home record against Huddersfield. And they are coming into this match after winning their last two home games without conceding a goal. The confidence will be high with Alex Neil’s men, especially after a narrow win against a strong side like Aston Villa. Expect them to be on top of their game with a strong determination to make up for the dropped points in November.
Norwich City vs Huddersfield: Bet Tips
Norwich City to win at 2.00 (1/1)
Over 1.5 team goals for Norwich City at 2.00 (1/1)
