Preview: Millwall vs Norwich City - prediction, team news, lineups

The second round of Championship fixtures gets underway with an early Saturday afternoon kick-off as Millwall welcome Norwich City to The Den.

Alex Neil's side began their Championship campaign in impressive fashion, securing a 2-0 victory over Bristol City, while the Canaries suffered a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

Match preview

After recording eighth-placed finishes either side of a 13th-placed finish across the previous three seasons, Millwall finally took the next step last year by securing a top-three finish and earning a place in the Championship playoffs.

The Lions enjoyed an outstanding campaign, recording 24 wins, 11 draws and just 11 defeats to finish with 83 points and comfortably secure their place among the promotion contenders.

However, Neil's side were unable to complete the job in the playoffs, suffering defeat across two legs against Hull City, who eventually secured promotion after a controversial playoff final.

Millwall have strengthened their squad over the summer, with Belgian midfielder Mathis Servais arriving from Mechelen and forward Tairyk Arconte joining from the French second tier among their notable additions.

It was last season's club-record signing Josh Coburn, though, who made the biggest impact on the opening weekend, with the former Middlesbrough striker scoring twice to fire the Lions to a 2-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

That success followed a low-scoring penalty shootout victory over Queens Park Rangers in the EFL Cup, and Neil will now be hoping his side can build on their encouraging start as they look to secure another playoff challenge.

As for visiting Norwich City, they entered the new campaign with plenty of optimism after finishing last season among the Championship's strongest sides.

The arrival of Philippe Clement in November helped transform their fortunes, with Norwich climbing from the relegation zone to ninth, while only one Championship side collected more points than the East Anglian club during 2026.

Their opening-day defeat to West Bromwich Albion therefore came as a major disappointment, particularly with the Baggies having finished just a few points above the relegation zone last season, although James Morrison's side also ended the previous campaign strongly.

The contest at Carrow Road remained level until the final 15 minutes, when a controversial goal from Aune Heggebo and a superb solo effort from Jimmy-Jay Morgan put West Brom two goals ahead, with Mathias Kvistgaarden's 90th-minute strike proving little more than a consolation.

There were nevertheless positives for Norwich to take from the defeat, with the Canaries registering more than twice as many shots as their opponents and demonstrating the attacking threat that helped them put together several lengthy unbeaten runs around the turn of the year.

Norwich also have recent success in this fixture to draw upon, having won 2-1 at The Den last season, although they will be looking to record successive away league victories over Millwall for the first time since 1989.

Millwall Championship form:

Millwall form (all competitions):

Norwich City Championship form:

Norwich City form (all competitions):

Team News

Despite starting the season with an impressive victory at Bristol City, Neil will be forced into at least one change after picking up injuries during the opening-day success.

Femi Azeez was withdrawn after just 29 minutes and is expected to miss Saturday's contest, with Kyrell Lisbie the likely candidate to replace him.

Summer signing Mathis Servais has also yet to make his Millwall debut after suffering a hamstring injury during pre-season, with the midfielder expected to remain sidelined for the next couple of weeks.

Forward Mihailo Ivanovic is also still "quite a few weeks away" from returning, according to Neil.

As for Norwich, Clement has no fresh injury concerns and could name an unchanged XI following the defeat to West Brom, although the Canaries boss may consider making alterations after the disappointing result.

Norwich will continue to be without Mirko Topic and Anthony Musaba, who remain sidelined with long-term injuries.

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Jensen; Leonard, Taylor, Cooper, Sturge; Metcalfe, De Norre, Neghli; Lisbie, Coburn, Arconte

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Kovacevic, Fisher, Darling, Cordoba, Chrisene; McLean, Mattsson; Brooks, B. Silmane, Maghoma; Toure

We say: Millwall 1-1 Norwich City

With both sides expected to challenge towards the top end of the Championship this season, Saturday's meeting should provide an early indication of how they compare with one another.

Millwall's opening-day victory gives them momentum heading into the contest, but Norwich showed enough attacking promise despite their defeat to suggest they can compete at The Den, and we expect the points to be shared in a closely fought 1-1 draw.

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