Preview: Leeds United vs Norwich City - prediction, team news, lineups

Mounting a push for their second-ever success in this competition, Leeds United welcome an in-form Norwich City side to Elland Road in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

The Whites suffered a damaging Yorkshire loss to Sunderland last time out in the Premier League, whilst the Canaries' impressive run continued on the road in the Championship.

Match preview

Winners of the FA Cup during the 1971-72 campaign, Leeds United are on a mission to lift major silverware for the first time this century, with the Yorkshire outfit striving for three straight wins over Championship opposition in this year's competition.

Daniel Farke's side navigated into the fifth-round draw with consecutive away victories over Derby County and Birmingham City, with the latter forcing their Premier League visitors to penalties at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on February 15.

Leeds come into this round-of-16 affair after recording back-to-back defeats in the top flight for the first time since late November, failing to score and losing by a single goal against both Manchester City and Sunderland at Elland Road.

Without victory in regular time of a fixture for five matches (D3 L2), the Whites remain 15th in the Premier League standings but have slumped closer to the drop zone, now possessing a mere three-point buffer over West Ham United in 18th.

Dipping in form at the same rate as his team overall, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has failed to find the net in any of his last four competitive appearances after bagging seven goals in six matches during a purple patch over the festive period.

© Imago / Focus Images

Turning out triumphant in nine of their past 11 matches across league and FA Cup duties, Norwich City are the in-form Championship outfit heading into the business stage of the season, although they are still likely to fall short of their pre-season ambitions.

Despite successive 2-0 wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City to round off a productive February schedule, the Canaries are a mammoth 12 points behind sixth-placed Wrexham in the second-tier table, dampening dreams of a late playoff push.

As is the case in the Championship, Philippe Clement's men have also represented one of the standout competitors in the FA Cup this year, smashing Walsall 5-1 at Carrow Road in the third round before easing past West Bromwich Albion 3-1 to book a battle with Premier League Leeds.

Since a narrow 3-2 defeat at Watford on December 5, Norwich have lost just one of their last eight away fixtures (W5 D2), winning five of their past six, including tricky-looking trips to Wrexham and Queens Park Rangers in January.

Whilst the form book points towards a possible FA Cup upset on Sunday, Leeds have dominated the recent meetings between the two sides, with the Canaries winless across their last eight clashes (D2 L6) versus the Whites dating back to October 2021.

Leeds United FA Cup form:

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Leeds United form (all competitions):

Norwich City FA Cup form:

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Norwich City form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / IMAGO / Focus Images

Whilst Leeds' medical room has cleared out nicely in recent weeks, however this weekend's hosts remain without the services of Noah Okafor because of a hamstring injury.

On the fringes of the Premier League plans at Elland Road, Joel Piroe could be handed a rare start for the Whites on Sunday afternoon.

Appearing off the bench in the defeat to Sunderland earlier in the week, the likes of Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto will be targeting starts in this one.

On the contrary to the hosts, Norwich have a stacked injury list ahead of this fifth-round clash, with key attackers Jovon Makama (muscle) and Mohamed Toure (leg) sidelined.

Reducing options for the Canaries at the back of the pitch, Shane Duffy (thigh) and Manchester United loanee Harry Amass (hamstring) are also unavailable.

The visitors have a pair of players who are out for the remainder of the campaign in the form of Ante Crnac (knee) and Mirko Topic (knee).

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Perri; Struijk, Bijol, Bornauw; James, Tanaka, Longstaff, Gudmundsson; Stach, Piroe, Nmecha

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Grimshaw; Stacey, McConville, Darling, Fisher; Wright, Field, Gibbs, Maghoma, Ahmed; Kvistgaarden

We say: Leeds United 2-1 Norwich City

Failing to score in each of their last two Elland Road matches, Leeds will be hoping that the floodgates open against Norwich this weekend.

The Canaries have fared excellently in the Championship of late, however Sunday's trip to a Premier League opponent could be a step too far.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.