Norwich City's fight to remain in the Premier League will continue on Saturday afternoon when they welcome an in-form Newcastle United to Carrow Road.
The Canaries are currently bottom of the table, eight points from the safety of 17th position, while Newcastle have risen into 11th spot, now 15 points clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Norwich gave a strong account of themselves at Old Trafford last weekend, and their performance deserved to produce a positive result, but Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliant hat-trick for Manchester United saw the Red Devils run out 3-2 winners over the league's bottom club.
The Canaries are not dead and buried, but it is going to take some effort for the team to escape the relegation zone at this stage of the season, as they are currently eight points behind 17th-placed Everton, who have a game in hand.
Dean Smith's side have won five, drawn six and lost 21 of their 32 league matches this season, conceding 66 times and scoring just 22, so it is not a surprise to see them at the bottom of the table at this stage.
Norwich will surely need to win all of their remaining games to stand a chance of staying in the division, and they will follow this match with fixtures against Aston Villa, West Ham United, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Canaries have the second-worst home record in the Premier League this season, picking up just 12 points from 16 matches, and they will be facing a Newcastle team that is full of confidence.
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Newcastle made it three straight Premier League wins on Wednesday when they recorded a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, with Miguel Almiron scoring the only goal of the contest in the 32nd minute.
The Magpies have also beaten Wolves and Leicester during an impressive run of form, and they are now up in 11th position in the table, some 15 points clear of the relegation zone, so they will be a Premier League club next season unless something quite extraordinary happens over the next few weeks.
Eddie Howe's side will be looking up the table rather than down at this stage, as they are just one point behind ninth-placed Leicester, so a top-half finish is certainly achievable, which would be incredible considering their relegation troubles earlier this season.
Newcastle spent more than £90m during the January transfer window, which has certainly helped their rise up the table, but they were 19th, five points from safety, when Howe took charge last November.
The Magpies have a tough end to the season on paper, facing Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Burnley in their four matches after this one, but they will certainly be confident heading into the tricky run.
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Team News
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Norwich will again be missing Adam Idah, Ozan Kabak, Joshua Sargent and Andrew Omobamidele through injury, but Brandon Williams is back, having been ineligible against Man United last weekend.
Billy Gilmour and Przemyslaw Placheta both featured off the bench against Man United and are in contention, but it would not be a surprise to see the same XI from the clash at Old Trafford.
As a result, Max Aarons might have to accept a spot on the bench once again, with Sam Byram set to continue at right-back, while Kieran Dowell is likely to earn another position in the final third of the field.
As for Newcastle, Callum Wilson, Isaac Hayden, Jamal Lewis and Kieran Trippier remain on the sidelines through injury, while Ryan Fraser is facing a battle to be fit before the end of the season.
Head coach Howe is likely to name close to the same side that took to the field against Palace last time out, although there could be a change in attack, with Jacob Murphy potentially replacing Allan Saint-Maximin.
Joe Willock is also pushing for a spot in the side, but Guimaraes was again impressive against the Eagles and should keep his spot, while Almiron is also expected to retain his position in the final third of the field.
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Byram, Hanley, Gibson, Giannoulis; McLean, Normann; Dowell, Lees-Melou, Rashica; Pukki
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett; Guimaraes, Shelvey, Joelinton; J Murphy, Wood, Almiron
We say: Norwich City 1-1 Newcastle United
Draws are no good for Norwich at this stage of the season, but Newcastle are difficult to back against at the moment due to their strong form. That said, the Canaries were impressive at Old Trafford, and we are expecting the two teams to share the spoils in a low-scoring draw at Carrow Road.
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 Newcastle United win with a probability of 41.1%. A win for Norwich City had a probability of 32.14% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newcastle United win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.59%) and 0-2 (7.39%). The likeliest Norwich City win was 1-0 (9.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.71%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 3.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Newcastle United would win this match.
