Norwich City's search for their first victory of the 2021-22 Premier League season will continue on Sunday afternoon when they welcome fellow strugglers Leeds United to Carrow Road.
The Canaries are rock bottom of the table, having picked up just two points from their opening nine matches, while Leeds sit 17th with just seven points to show from their first nine games of the campaign.
Match preview
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Too strong for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League is an argument that continues to be put to Norwich, and it is difficult to argue against it considering what has occurred in the opening months of the 2021-22 campaign.
The Canaries have not been able to secure back-to-back seasons of top-flight football since 2012-13 and 2013-14, having dropped straight back into the Championship following their last two promotions, and it is difficult to imagine them breaking that pattern this term unless something drastic changes.
Norwich lost their opening six matches of the new Premier League season before picking up two points in back-to-back draws with Burnley and Brighton & Hove Albion either side of the international break.
Daniel Farke's side were brought crashing back down to earth last weekend, though, as they suffered a 7-0 defeat at Chelsea, and there is simply no downplaying the importance of the clash with Leeds considering that both sides have found it difficult to perform in the opening months of the campaign.
Norwich have actually won four of their last six Premier League meetings with Leeds, suffering just one defeat in the process, although Sunday's contest will be the first top-flight clash between the two sides since May 1995, when Leeds ran out 2-1 winners to relegate the Canaries to the second tier.
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Leeds, meanwhile, will enter Sunday's contest off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the last-16 stage of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, with Calum Chambers and Eddie Nketiah on the scoresheet in North London.
The Whites played out a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last weekend, meanwhile, with the result moving them onto seven points, which is only good enough for 17th at this stage.
Marcelo Bielsa's side were so impressive on their return to the top flight last season, ultimately finishing ninth, and it would be fair to say that there were high hopes surrounding the team ahead of the new campaign, but they have struggled to get going in the opening months.
A record of one win, four draws and four defeats has left them at the wrong end of the table, and finding the back of the net has been a problem this term, with the Whites netting just eight times in nine matches; only Burnley (seven) and Norwich (two) have a worse record at this stage.
Leeds have lost just one of their last five away league games against Norwich, though, and recorded a 3-0 victory over the Canaries when the pair last locked horns at Carrow Road in August 2018.
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Team News
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Norwich will again be without the services of Christoph Zimmermann through injury, while Ben Gibson is suspended following his red card in the seven-goal defeat to Chelsea.
Billy Gilmour is available after being unable to take on his parent club last weekend, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the Scotland international come into the starting XI as part of a reshuffle.
Przemyslaw Placheta may be in the squad, and a potential switch to a 3-5-2 formation could see Brandon Williams and Milot Rashica come into the side, while Gibson's absence will open the door for Andrew Omobamidele to feature at the back.
Todd Cantwell and Sam Byram, though, will not be included in the squad.
As for Leeds, Bielsa revealed during Friday's press conference that Junior Firpo, Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips are all likely to be available for this weekend's contest, while Jamie Shackleton should also be fit.
However, Luke Ayling, Patrick Bamford and Robin Koch remain on the sidelines for the Whites, with Bielsa admitting that he is unsure when the trio will be available for selection once again.
Rodrigo is again expected to lead the line in Bamford's absence, while Daniel James and Jack Harrison could also both start, with the visitors likely to take the match to Norwich in search of three points.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Kabak, Hanley, Omobamidele; Aarons, Gilmour, Lees-Melou, Williams; Dowell, Pukki, Rashica
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Shackleton, Llorente, Cooper, Firpo; Raphinha, Phillips, Klich, Harrison; James; Rodrigo
We say: Norwich City 1-2 Leeds United
Leeds will have earmarked this match as the perfect chance to record their second league victory of the campaign, and we believe that the Whites will triumph. Norwich have found it difficult to compete in the top flight this term and could come up just short against Leeds at the end of a competitive match.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leeds United win with a probability of 38.73%. A win for Norwich City had a probability of 35.81% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leeds United win was 0-1 with a probability of 8.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.51%) and 0-2 (6.31%). The likeliest Norwich City win was 1-0 (8.52%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.04%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Leeds United would win this match.
