Coming off an outstanding 7-0 thumping of Huddersfield Town, Norwich City travel to Pride Park Stadium to take on Derby County on Saturday.
Wayne Rooney’s men have struggled to hit their stride this season in the EFL Championship and now face the uphill task of taking on the Canaries.
Derby County ended their seven-game winless run last week with an impressive 2-0 win over Luton Town.
However, they crashed back to earth as they suffered their 19th defeat of the season against Reading last time out.
In an end-to-end affair at the Madejski Stadium, Michael Olise, George Puscas and Lucas Joao scored to give Reading a 3-1 win.
The Rams now sit 18th in the league standings, eight positions and 21 points off their 10th-placed finish last season.
Norwich City, meanwhile, continue their scintillating form this season and look certain to secure automatic promotion back into the Premier League.
Daniel Farke’s men made it 12 games without defeat in an emphatic 7-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Town on Tuesday.
The Canaries have now extended their lead over second-placed Watford to eight points at the top of the table.
Norwich City will be confident of securing victory in this tie as they boast the league’s best record away from home. They have picked up 42 points from 60 on the road this season.
Derby County vs Norwich City Head-to-Head
Derby County have been the slightly better side in this fixture, with 10 wins in their last 22 meetings. Norwich City have picked up seven wins, while five matches have ended as draws.
Derby County come into this tie on a five-game unbeaten run against Norwich City, with their last encounter ending in a 1-0 victory back in October.
Derby County form guide: L-D-L-W-L
Norwich City form guide: W-W-D-D-L
Derby County vs Norwich City Team News
Derby County
Derby County have a relatively long absentee list as they will be without a few key players through injury.
Wayne Rooney will be without the services of Lee Gregory (hamstring), Martyn Waghorn (hamstring), Jordon Ibe (hamstring), Krystian Bielik (ACL) and Curtis Davies (Achilles).
Injured: Lee Gregory, Martyn Waghorn, Jordon Ibe, Krystian Bielik, Curtis Davies
Suspended: None
Norwich City
Norwich City also have their own injury concerns. Christoph Zimmermann (hamstring), Adam Idah (hernia), Ben Gibson (ankle), Michael McGovern (knee) and Sam Byram (hamstring) are all out with injuries.
Injured: Christoph Zimmermann, Adam Idah, Ben Gibson, Michael McGovern, Sam Byram
Suspended: None
Derby County vs Norwich City Predicted XI
Derby County Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): David Marshall, Andre Wisdom, Matt Clarke, Craig Forsyth, Nathan Byrne, Max Bird, Graeme Shinnie, Tom Lawrence, Kamil Jozwiak, Lee Gregory, Colin Kazim-Richards
Norwich City Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Tim Krul, Xavi Quintilla, Grant Hanley, Andrew Omobamidele, Bali Mumba, Oliver Skipp, Kenny McLean, Onel Hernandez, Emiliano Buendia, Todd Cantwell, Teemu Pukki
Derby County Norwich City Prediction
Both sides come into this clash with several injury concerns. However, we fancy Norwich City to grab all three points and end their poor run against the out-of-sorts Derby County.
Prediction: Derby County 1-3 Norwich City