Norwich City will set out to make it five league games unbeaten on Saturday, when they welcome Huddersfield Town to Carrow Road.
An upturn in form has seen the hosts climb up to 10th spot in the Championship table, while their visitors sit 21st with just a two-point lead over the relegation zone heading into the halfway point of the season.
Match preview
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Norwich City return to Carrow Road at the weekend in the midst of somewhat of an improved run in what has been a relatively disappointing start to the Championship season on the whole under David Wagner.
Setting out to fight for a top-six spot this term, the Canaries currently occupy 10th spot with 31 points from their opening 22 outings, having picked up nine wins and suffered nine defeats, while only basement side Rotherham United have conceded more than the 39 goals that the Norfolk outfit have shipped.
Pressure was certainly growing around Carrow Road in early November, as a run of six matches which produced just a single point left them on just 17 points from 15 games, but they have certainly improved their fortunes since, adding 14 points to their tally in the last seven attempts, while they now head into the halfway point of the season in a four-game unbeaten streak.
After triumphing away at Bristol City and settling for an underwhelming stalemate at home to Preston North End, the Canaries returned to winning ways at home to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday last week, thanks to goals from Borja Sainz, Ashley Barnes and Jon Rowe, before most recently taking a creditable point from a 2-2 draw with second-placed rivals Ipswich Town away at Portman Road on Saturday, as Rowe scored a brace to turn the game on its head, only for Wes Burns to level the scores on the hour mark.
Having certainly boosted their own playoff hopes in recent weeks with their upturn in form, albeit now trailing sixth-placed Hull City by five points, Norwich City will set out to extend their unbeaten streak to five games at the weekend with a return to winning ways at Carrow Road at the start of a busy festive period which could see them climb closer to the top six.
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They meet a Huddersfield Town side, formerly managed and guided to the Premier League by Wagner, who travel to Norfolk in search of a much-needed three-point haul in their own fight at the bottom end of the Championship, with the Terriers having seen their lead over the relegation zone cut in recent weeks.
Aiming to again maintain their second-tier status this time around, the West Yorkshire outfit currently sit 21st with 22 points on the board from their opening 22 games having been under the tutelage of Darren Moore since late September.
Of their four league wins so far this term, the most recent came at the end of last month in impressive fashion away at Sunderland, as Michal Helik and Delano Burgzorg got on the scoresheet in a 2-1 triumph to give their side a degree of breathing space in the fight for survival, but they have been unable to add another notch to their wins column in the last four attempts.
Indeed, three of those games have ended in 1-1 draws as they firstly shared the points with Swansea City and Bristol City before suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Preston North End, with Danny Ward's goal not enough to spark a turnaround as Alan Browne, Will Keane and Ben Whiteman got on the scoresheet for their visitors.
Now on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at fellow strugglers Millwall at the weekend, as Burgzorg equalised from the penalty spot in injury time, Huddersfield Town now find themselves two points ahead of Queens Park Rangers in the drop zone and just six better off than 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday, and they will now be desperate to get one over on their old boss and take an impressive scalp on their travels and make a return to winning ways to increase their cushion on Saturday.
Team News
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Norwich City will likely come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI from their draw away at Ipswich in the East Anglian Derby last time out, with defenders Grant Hanley, Ben Gibson and Jacob Sorensen remaining confined to the treatment room alongside attackers Joshua Sargent and Hwang Ui-jo.
In Sargent's ongoing absence, Adam Idah should continue to lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 shape with support from Ashley Barnes through the middle, while winger Jonathan Rowe has certainly been their star man going forward this term, having taken his tally to 10 Championship goals for the season with his brace at Portman Road.
Behind the supporting trio, Marcelino Nunez should again join star man Gabriel Sara in midfield, while Kenny McLean could again get the nod in a makeshift centre-back role alongside Shane Duffy despite competition from Danny Batth.
Huddersfield Town continue to deal with a long list of injuries of their own, worsened further at the weekend as goalkeeper Lee Nicholls was forced off after returning between the sticks, while Oliver Turton, Ben Jackson, Josh Ruffels, Kian Harratt and Kyle Hudlin remain confined to the treatment room with important defender Matty Pearson having also missed out at the weekend.
They have, at least, welcomed key midfielder Jack Rudoni back to action recently, and he should again join Jonathan Hogg and either Ben Wiles or David Kasumu in the middle of a 3-5-2 shape, while Delano Burgzorg is bound to again lead the line, having netted three goals in their last five Championship outings.
If Pearson does not return in time for Saturday's game, Yuta Nakayama should again join mainstays Tom Lees and Michal Helik in a back three, while Chris Maxwell will return from the start between the sticks in Nicholls's absence.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Stacey, Duffy, McLean, McCallum; Nunez, Sara; Rowe, Barnes, Sainz; Idah
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Maxwell; Lees, Helik, Nakayama; Thomas, Kasumu, Hogg, Rudoni, Headley; Burgzorg, Ward
We say: Norwich City 2-1 Huddersfield Town
Norwich City certainly look improved in recent weeks under Wagner, and aiming to move closer to the playoff places and make it five games unbeaten, we fancy them to come out on top at home to the struggling Terriers.
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