Two Championship teams seeking to secure a playoff spot lock horns at Ewood Park on Saturday lunchtime as Blackburn Rovers play host to Norwich City.
Neither side could be separated the last time that they butted heads back in August last year when they played out a 2-2 draw at Carrow Road.
Match preview
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Following a poor end to 2024 and a dismal start to 2025, winning just one game out of nine between December 21 and January 25 (D2 L6), Blackburn appeared to be turning a corner as they celebrated winning three of their next four games, including back-to-back 2-0 wins over Plymouth Argyle and West Bromwich Albion.
However, Blackburn were brought back down to earth last weekend when they suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Swansea City under interim boss David Lowe, a result that presumably accelerated the process to appoint Valerien Ismael as their new permanent head coach.
Ismael was officially unveiled on Tuesday and the 49-year-old former West Brom, Watford and Barnsley boss is tasked with keeping Blackburn in the Championship playoff spots; his new side currently sit sixth in the table but only one point above Coventry City in seventh.
Blackburn will welcome a return to Ewood Park where they have accumulated 32 of their 51 Championship points this season, winning three of their last four home matches against Portsmouth (2-0), Preston (2-1) and Plymouth (2-0).
However, Rovers head into Saturday's contest having failed to win any of their last six home encounters with Norwich, with five straight defeats followed by a 1-1 draw in February last season.
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After winning 11, drawing 11 and losing 11 of their first 33 Championship matches this season, Norwich City ended a three-game winless run when they secured a 4-2 home victory over Stoke City last weekend.
Joshua Sargent scored a second-half brace, netting his 10th and 11th goals of the season to help the Canaries get back onto the Championship playoff trail under Johannes Hoff Thorup, who was left both "pleased" and "a little bit annoyed" with the overall result.
Although Norwich remain 10th in the table, they capitalised on Blackburn losing last time out and have moved to within four points of the playoff spots with 12 Championship games remaining.
The Canaries are now bidding to win back-to-back league games for the fifth time this season, although success on Saturday is not a given as they have only come out on top in four of their 17 Championship away games this term (D5 L8).
Team News
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Blackburn will be without Scott Wharton, Harry Pickering (both knee), Owen Beck an ex-Norwich defender Danny Batth (both hamstring) due to injury, while former Canaries midfielder Todd Cantwell is doubtful with a back problem, but Sondre Tronstad could be fit to return to the matchday squad after six weeks out with a hamstring injury.
After watching on as an unused substitute in the last two games since recovering from injury, defender Hayden Carter could be handed his first start since October after another full week of training.
It remains to be seen exactly how Blackburn will line up for Ismael's first game in charge, but the likes of Emmanuel Dennis, Cauley Woodrow, John Buckley and Joe Rankin-Costello will all be looking to force their way into the first XI after beginning as substitutes last time out.
As for Norwich, Kenny McLean remains unavailable for selection due to illness, while Liam Gibbs (hamstring), Gabriel Forsyth (knee), Amankwah Forson (leg) and Emiliano Marcondes (hip) are sidelined through injury.
With Callum Doyle serving the second and final match of his two-game suspension, Jose Cordoba is set to continue at centre-back alongside Shane Duffy, while 20-year-old Kellen Fisher and 19-year-old Lucien Mahovo retain their places at right-back and left-back respectively.
Lewis Dobbin will be part of the matchday squad despite coming off at half time in the win over Stoke. If he is fit to start, the Aston Villa loanee could provide support in attack for Sargent and Borja Sainz, the Championship's joint-top scorer with 15 goals this season.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Sanderson, Ribeiro; Buckley, Travis; Dennis, Weimann, Dolan; Gueye
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Fisher, Duffy, Cordoba, Mahovo; Nunez, Slimane, Sorensen; Dobbin, Sargent, Sainz
We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Norwich City
Blackburn can ill-afford to perform as poorly as they did at Swansea in their remaining league fixtures if they wish to remain in the playoff positions, and they will hoping for an immediate manager bounce under new boss Ismael this weekend.
Norwich have enjoyed their recent visits to Ewood Park, though, and with there being little to separate these two sides, another entertaining score draw could be on the cards, one similar to the reverse fixture six month ago.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
