Manchester United will be looking to make it three Premier League victories in a row when they head to Carrow Road on Saturday to take on basement side Norwich City.
The Red Devils, who have beaten Arsenal and Crystal Palace in their last two league fixtures, are currently sixth in the table, while Norwich are bottom with 10 points to show from their 15 matches.
Match preview
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Norwich looked down and out in the Premier League at the end of October, but the Canaries beat Brentford and Southampton in back-to-back matches either side of the November international break before picking up points in draws with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United.
Dean Smith's side lost 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, though, which saw them return to the bottom of the table, boasting just 10 points from their opening 15 matches of the campaign.
The picture is a lot brighter for the promoted club, though, as they are only three points behind 17th-placed Watford and have shown a fighting spirit since Smith's arrival as head coach.
Norwich now have back-to-back home league fixtures against Man United and Aston Villa before travelling to West Ham United on December 18, while they will welcome Arsenal to Carrow Road on Boxing Day, and it will be fascinating to see where the club are in the table approaching the end of the month.
The Canaries have lost eight of their last 10 league matches against their opponents this weekend, including a 3-1 defeat when the two teams last locked horns at Carrow Road in the Premier League in October 2019.
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Man United, meanwhile, will enter Saturday's contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Young Boys in their final Champions League group fixture on Wednesday evening.
Interim head coach Ralf Rangnick rung the changes for the European affair, selecting a brand-new XI, and a youthful side managed to claim a point, with Tom Heaton, Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal making their first-team debuts, while Mason Greenwood was on the scoresheet for the home side at Old Trafford.
Rangnick will now be looking to make it back-to-back league wins under his management, having led the Red Devils to a 1-0 success over Crystal Palace last Sunday, with Fred netting the only goal of the contest, as the club moved into sixth position in the Premier League table.
Man United are just three points behind fourth-placed West Ham United and have a favourable run of fixtures in the weeks ahead, facing Norwich, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United and Burnley before the end of the month, and Rangnick will be looking to secure a lot of points during that period.
The fact that the German could rest his entire first-choice XI on Wednesday should stand the Red Devils in good stead this weekend, as he will demand another high-energy performance from the players, who could not find a way to perform in the latter stages of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's management.
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Team News
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Norwich will again be without the services of Milot Rashica and Christoph Zimmermann on Saturday, while Brandon Williams is ineligible to face his parent club.
The Canaries were hopeful that Mathias Normann would be able to overcome a pelvic issue to start this weekend, but Smith ruled the midfielder out during Friday's press conference.
Ozan Kabak is pushing for a spot in the side, while Williams's absence will open the door for Dimitris Giannoulis to feature; Todd Cantwell is also an option in attack, but Joshua Sargent could be given the nod alongside Teemu Pukki as part of a front two.
As for Man United, Aaron Wan-Bissaka has emerged as a fresh injury doubt after picking up a knock to his knee against Young Boys on Wednesday, while Raphael Varane, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba will again be unavailable for selection against the Canaries.
Rangnick is expected to change his entire XI once again, with the same team that started against Palace last weekend likely to take to the field at Carrow Road.
It should be a 4-2-2-2 formation once again, with Marcus Rashford playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the final third, leaving Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes in the positions just behind.
Luke Shaw made his return from a head injury against Young Boys, but Alex Telles has impressed at left-back in recent matches and should regain his spot in the XI for this game.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Hanley, Gibson, Kabak; Aarons, McLean, Gilmour, Lees Melou, Giannoulis; Sargent, Pukki
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles; Fred, McTominay; Fernandes, Sancho; Ronaldo, Rashford
We say: Norwich City 1-3 Manchester United
There have been a lot of positive signs at Man United under Rangnick, and the Red Devils will be in a confident mood ahead of Saturday's contest. Norwich are more than capable of making this a difficult game for the visitors, but are expecting Man United to pick up all three points courtesy of a 3-1 success.
Top tip
Matt Law
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 Manchester United win with a probability of 48.03%. A win for Norwich City had a probability of 27.07% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester United win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.42%) and 0-2 (8.31%). The likeliest Norwich City win was 1-0 (7.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.81%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Manchester United in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Manchester United.
