Just a single point separates Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers ahead of their crucial Championship showdown at Carrow Road on Saturday.
With 22 games in the books, third-place Blackburn lead fourth-place Norwich. Meanwhile, second-place Sheffield United sit five points ahead of Rovers.
📸 Players train ahead of Blackburn.Take a look at our full gallery as the players prepare for the weekend ⬇️#NCFC— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) December 14, 2022
📸 Players train ahead of Blackburn.Take a look at our full gallery as the players prepare for the weekend ⬇️#NCFC
With only five points between the Canaries and thirteenth-place Luton Town, both sides will be eager to avoid defeat on Saturday in order to remain on track in the promotion race.
It’s fair to say that Norwich are experiencing a relatively inconsistent campaign, having recorded ten wins, five draws and seven losses so far.
Between early October and early November, the Canaries managed to pick up just one victory in eight Championship encounters.
Since then, however, Dean Smith’s side have claimed two wins in three outings – including last weekend’s 1-0 away victory over Swansea City.
Although Norwich have managed to win just one of their last six home games in all competitions, they will fancy their chances of defeating Blackburn.
As for Blackburn, they have failed to record a single Championship draw this season – registering 12 wins and ten losses.
Not Championship team has claimed more victories than Rovers this term, while only four sides have suffered more defeats.
It is also worth noting that Blackburn are the only team in the top seven with a negative goal difference, having scored 25 and conceded 26.
Ben Brereton Diaz has bagged nine goals and two assists this season, meaning he has played a part in 44% of his team’s league goals.
Head-to-head: Blackburn have only managed to win three of their last 13 meetings with Norwich across all competitions.
Each of the past five meetings between Norwich and Blackburn have been decided by a single goal or less, meaning Saturday’s clash is likely to be a close-fought battle.
Team news: Norwich are currently without Jon Rowe, Sam Byram, Marcelino Nunez and Jakob Sorensen due to injury.
Blackburn also have injury absentees of their own, with Harry Pickering, Jack Vale and Sam Barnes expected to miss the upcoming match.
This is destined to be a tight game. However, Blackburn have lost three of their last four league outings – giving Norwich an advantage.
Forebet predicts that Norwich will edge out Blackburn at Carrow Road, with the hosts scoring over 1.5 goals en route to victory.