Norwich City will be looking to break into the playoff places when they go head to head with Derby County in round 31 of the Championship on Saturday.
The Rams, on a run of eight consecutive defeats, head into the weekend seeking to make it four back-to-back victories at Carrow Road and move out of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Norwich City continued their strong push for post-season football as they picked up a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road last Saturday.
In a game where Vakoun Issouf Bayo received an early bath, Josh Sargent's 41st-minute strike made the difference as the visitors picked up a third consecutive victory over Watford since a 3-2 loss in November 2023.
Prior to that, Norwich suffered three straight defeats, including a 4-0 loss against Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup third round on January 11, before bouncing back in an emphatic 5-1 victory over Swansea City on January 25.
The Canaries have picked up 11 wins and nine draws from their 30 Championship matches this season to collect 42 points and sit eighth in the league table, level on points with Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday, and two points off sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion in the final playoff spot.
Johannes Thorup's men now return to Carrow Road, where they are unbeaten in all but one of their last seven league matches — claiming five wins and one draw — with a 2-1 loss against Burnley on December 15 being the exception.
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Derby County, on the other hand, failed to stop the rot as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against title-chasing Sheffield United when the two sides squared off at Pride Park last Saturday.
Having completed a loan switch from Southampton in January, Chile international Ben Brereton Diaz opened his account for Sheffield as he struck four minutes after the half-time break to hand them all three points.
Derby have now lost each of their last eight matches across all competitions, a run which has seen them crash out of the FA Cup following a penalty-shootout defeat against Leyton Orient in the third round on January 14.
This dire run of results has seen Paul Warne's men plummet into the danger zone as they currently sit 22nd in the league standings, level on 27 points with 23rd-placed Luton Town and two points off Hull City just above the bottom three.
Derby's underwhelming campaign has been owing to their lack of cutting edge in front of goal as they have failed to find the back of the net in five of their last eight games while allowing 13 at the opposite end of the pitch in that time.
Team News
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Norwich remain without the services of top scorer Borja Sainz, who is set to sit out the last of his six-game suspension after admitting to spitting at Sunderland's Chris Mepham in December.
Despite missing each of the last five matches, the Spanish midfielder boasts eight more goals than any other Norwich player in the league, having netted 15 times in 26 games.
On the injury front, the Canaries will take to the pitch without Forson Amankwah (leg), Gabriel Forsyth (knee) and Anis Ben Slimane, who continue their spells on the sidelines.
Marcelino Nunez and 22-year-old midfielder Liam Gibbs are currently recuperating from hamstring and muscle injuries respectively and are also ruled out for the home side.
As for Derby County, the trio of Corey Blackett-Taylor, Kane Wilson and Jamaican forward Dajaune Brown have been ruled out through hamstring injuries and are out of contention for the trip to Carrow Road.
Australian defender Callum Eder missed the game against Sheffield United last time out through a groin issue and the 30-year-old is also expected to play no part in this weekend's clash.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Fisher, Duffy, Doyle, Chrisene; Wright, McLean; Schwartau, Marcondes, Dobbin; Sargent
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Zetterstrom; Langas, Clarke, Forsyth; Nyambe, Goudmijn, Adams, Osborn; Barkhuizen, Yates, Salvesen
We say: Norwich City 2-0 Derby County
Norwich City head into Saturday's clash off the back of securing victories over Swansea and Watford in their last two outings and will be backing themselves to keep the juggernaut rolling against an out-of-sorts Derby County side. The Rams' form is currently nothing to write home about and we see them struggling at Carrow Road this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
