Preview: Luton Town vs. Norwich City - prediction, team news, lineups

Norwich City go up against Luton Town on Boxing Day looking for the victory which will ensure that they remain in the Championship playoff places.

Meanwhile, the Hatters head into the fixture at Kenilworth Road sitting in 15th position as Rob Edwards looks to instigate a move up the standings as soon as possible.

Match preview

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Given his comments after the defeat to Blackburn Rovers last weekend, it is clear that the relationship between Dean Smith and the Norwich supporters is close to breaking point.

Three wins from 12 matches for a team who had been tipped to win the Championship title is considerably below expectations, the Canaries now nine points adrift of the top two.

Nevertheless, Norwich had collected 10 points from a possible 15 before the setback to one of their rivals, Smith perhaps having a point with some of the quotes which came afterwards.

From the perspective of fans, however, fifth-placed Norwich now sit just three points above 12th position, highlighting the difference that another defeat or two could make to their season.

While the January transfer window could come at the right time for Smith as he considers making changes, further setbacks versus Luton and Reading may lead to the Norwich hierarchy making one of their own.

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Luton have just experienced their own switch in head coach courtesy of Nathan Jones leaving for Southampton, a sign that the club are in a solid place on and off the pitch.

However, as a former Watford boss, Edwards knows that he needs to make an immediate impact to win over any doubters, and he has had a stop-start introduction to life at Kenilworth Road.

Luton's game with Millwall was postponed last weekend, resulting in a 16-day break between the last-gasp defeat to Middlesbrough and the game on Boxing Day.

Although Edwards may appreciate the longer period on the training pitch, he needs to get results on the board to ensure that Luton do not fall any closer to the drop zone, the current gap being six points.

Team News

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With Amari'i Bell still serving a one-match ban, Dan Potts is in line to return to the Luton back three for this fixture.

Barring any other fitness issues, Edwards may be prepared to stick with the remainder of the Hatters XI from their game on December 10.

As far as Norwich are concerned, Sam Byram, Aaron Ramsey and Todd Cantwell all remain unavailable for the Canaries.

Liam Gibbs or Marcelino Nunez could be drafted back into the centre of midfield, with Gabriel Sara potentially missing out.

While Onel Hernandez is also in contention, the winger will likely remain among the replacements.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Horvath; Osho, Lockyer, Potts; Bree, Campbell, Mpanzu, Clark, Doughty; Morris, Adebayo

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Gunn; Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, McCallum; Hayden, McLean, Nunez; Sinani, Pukki, Sinani

We say: Luton Town 1-2 Norwich City

With both managers facing a different kind of pressure in this contest, it remains to be seen how they will approach such a match. Norwich are the favourites, however, and we feel that the Canaries will finish strongly to record an important three points.

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