Two clubs yet to add an FA Cup honour to their trophy cabinet square off at Carrow Road in Saturday's third-round encounter, as Norwich City pit their wits against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Both sides come into the showdown seeking to stretch their respective unbeaten runs to five matches, but converting draws into wins remains a struggle for the Premier League outfit.
Match preview
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A week on from controversially escaping a red card for swinging an elbow out at Brentford's Yehor Yarmoliuk, Brighton attacker Joao Pedro was the beneficiary of another contentious call when Arsenal came to visit the Amex Stadium on January 4.
After going into the break a goal down courtesy of an Ethan Nwaneri effort, Fabian Hurzeler's men restored parity through a Pedro penalty after the Brazilian was 'headbutted' by Gunners defender William Saliba as both players challenged for a header.
As controversial as that decision was, Hurzeler's men would have been worthy winners against the Gunners if their second-half display was anything to go by, but the Seagulls were held to their fourth successive draw in the top flight to sit 10th in the mid-season standings, having also shared the spoils with West Ham United, Brentford and Aston Villa.
The Premier League's stalemate specialists will not suffer the same fate on Saturday thanks to the abolishment of FA Cup replays from round one onwards, and Brighton have only failed to advance from one of their last eight third-round contests in the competition, going down to Sheffield Wednesday in 2020.
Furthermore, a road trip normally spells success for the Seagulls' frontline, as Hurzeler's side have scored in all of their 10 away matches in the 2024-25 campaign, albeit while also failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six games on enemy territory.
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Also avoiding defeat in each of their last four Championship contests, Norwich City have been a team revived since the Christmas festivities; they have taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer after suffering three losses and one draw from their previous four contests from December 7 to 21.
The Canaries have started 2025 as they mean to continue with back-to-back triumphs over Luton Town and Coventry City, although their 2-1 beating of the latter on January 4 was far from straightforward; they needed a dramatic injury-time brace from substitute Amankwah Forson to get over the line.
Nevertheless, the 22-year-old's heroic intervention was enough to lift 11th-placed Norwich to within four points of the Championship playoff positions, as the side led by Johannes Thorup seek a first return to the big time since their last demotion in 2022.
The FA Cup will undoubtedly be lower down on the hosts' priority list, but Norwich have turned their third-round fortunes around in recent years; after suffering six consecutive exits at this stage between 2013-14 and 2018-19, the Canaries have now been beaten in just one of their last five opening ties.
The hosts also held Brighton to a pair of goalless stalemates in Premier League action during the 2021-22 campaign, but those two drab draws stretched their winless and scoreless run versus the Seagulls to four games since a 2-0 Championship victory in 2017, courtesy of two David Stockdale own goals.
Team News
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Brighton's hard-fought point against Arsenal came at a bit of a cost, as defender Igor Julio - filling in for absent captain Lewis Dunk - came off with a tight hamstring midway through the second half and is uncertain for the trip to Carrow Road.
The aforementioned Dunk was ruled out of the Gunners draw due to a minor calf concern, which will not settle down in time for the clash with the Canaries, and young versatile midfielder Jack Hinshelwood will not yet be given the green light to return from a knee issue either.
Arsenal's nemesis Pedro has also joined Ferdi Kadioglu (ankle), James Milner (thigh), Mats Wieffer (thigh) and Evan Ferguson (ankle) on the sidelines; the Brazilian attacker twisted his ankle in a midweek training session.
The third-round clash is also expected to come too soon for January signing Diego Gomez to earn his Brighton baptism, but on one positive note, Danny Welbeck (ankle) might be back in contention.
As for the hosts, they have been dealt a devastating blow regarding top scorer Borja Sainz, who was slapped with a six-game suspension and £12,000 fine for spitting at an opponent against Sunderland last month.
Liam Gibbs (hamstring), Gabe Forsyth (knee) and Jacob Lungi Sorensen (groin) make up a trio of injury absentees for Norwich, but Thorup has confirmed that Joshua Sargent could make his return from a groin injury as a second-half substitute this weekend.
Two-goal hero Forson could hardly have done more to earn a start against Premier League opposition, while Onel Hernandez and Lewis Dobbin represent alternative options in the attacking third in place of the banned Sainz.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Long; Stacey, Duffy, Doyle, Chrisene; Nunez, McLean, Forson; Dobbin, Crnac, Hernandez
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Steele; Lamptey, Van Hecke, Webster, Estupinan; Baleba, Moder; Minteh, Enciso, Mitoma; Rutter
We say: Norwich City 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Both encounters between Norwich and Brighton in 2021-22 might have ended scoreless, but goals ought to be a guarantee between the confident Canaries and a Seagulls side who can always be relied upon to produce the attacking goods on the road.
A depleted Seagulls defence is at serious risk of being exposed by Thorup's men, but the visitors should be able to fight fire with fire at the other end of the pitch to enter the pot for round four.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
