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

Separated by two divisions last season, Rotherham United and Norwich City face off in the Championship on Saturday afternoon. Despite being tipped for relegation and promotion respectively before the start of the campaign, the Millers are one point better off than the Canaries at this early stage.

Match preview

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Norwich's return to the second tier has been a little underwhelming – they have just one win to their name so far, which came on the opening day against Huddersfield Town.

That was followed by a 2-2 draw with Preston, but they went into the international break off the back of consecutive 1-0 defeats to Bournemouth and Derby County.

Combined with the abysmal end to their time in the Premier League last season, it means the Canaries have won just one of their last 15 league matches.

Questions are beginning to be asked of Daniel Farke, while there was more bad news last week as centre-back Ben Godfrey joined Everton.

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Rotherham have also not won since the opening weekend but will be relatively content with their form since. They have lost once – to Millwall – and drawn with Birmingham City and Huddersfield.

That defeat was their first home league loss of 2020, after they made the New York Stadium a fortress on the way to promotion from League One last season.

The Millers have only beaten Norwich once in their last 17 attempts – a 2-1 victory in January 2017 in which Tom Adeyemi scored the winner against his former club.

They will be without manager Paul Warne on Saturday, as the 47-year-old is self-isolating due to one of his family members testing positive for coronavirus.

Rotherham United Championship form: WLDD Rotherham United form (all competitions): DWLDD

Norwich City Championship form: WDLL Norwich City form (all competitions): LWDLL

Team News

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Rotherham have been rocked by the news that influential winger Chiedozie Ogbene is set to be out for around two months after suffering a knee injury in training. Paul Warne's main selection dilemma comes upfront, where he has alternated between two of Freddie Ladapo, George Hirst and Michael Smith so far this season.

Life back in the Championship has not been easy for Teemu Pukki, who missed a penalty against Derby and may be replaced by either Adam Idah or Jordan Hugill.

Sam Byram and Kieran Dowell are both long-term absentees for Norwich and are not expected back until 2021.

Rotherham United possible starting lineup: Blackman; Harding, Ihiekwe, A. MacDonald, Mattock; Wiles, Crooks, S. MacDonald, Sadlier; Hirst, Ladapo

Norwich City possible starting lineup: Krul; Aarons, Zimmerman, Gibson, Quintilla; Skipp, Rupp; Buendia, Stiepermann, Hernandez, Hugill

We say: Rotherham United 0-1 Norwich City

Not having Paul Warne on the sidelines could affect Rotherham, but they certainly will not be an easy test for Norwich. The Canaries have not been clinical enough so far this season, but they should just sneak a win.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data