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

Watford will attempt to extend their six-game unbeaten home run when they welcome Norwich City to Vicarage Road on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Norwich will be looking to record back-to-back victories after getting the better of Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Match preview

Watford will head into the weekend in 15th place in the Championship table after picking up 24 points from 18 matches this season.

Javi Gracia's side have added just one point to their tally in their two matches since beating Derby County 3-2 on November 22.

Watford went on to play out a 1-1 draw against Preston North End, before they fell to a 2-1 defeat in Monday’s away clash against Birmingham City.

Othmane Maamma netted his first Watford goal to halve Birmingham’s lead at St Andrew’s, but the Hornets were unable to find an elusive equaliser as their five-game unbeaten run came to an end.

However, Watford will still carry an undefeated streak into Saturday’s contest, having won four and drawn two of their last six home games since losing to Blackburn Rovers on September 13.

The Hornets will hope that home advantage can help them beat Norwich for the first time since coming from two goals down to win 3-2 in November 2023.

Norwich will head into the weekend in high spirits after they ended a 13-game winless run in Philippe Clement’s third game in charge since replacing Liam Manning in the dugout.

The Canaries saw off Queens Park Rangers at Carrow Road via a 3-1 scoreline thanks to efforts from Emiliano Marcondes and Amankwah Forson, as well as an Amadou Mbengue own goal.

As a result of their first win since August, 23rd-placed Norwich have closed the gap to safety to four points ahead of Saturday’s trip to Vicarage Road.

Norwich have struggled to pick up points on the road, having lost four of their previous five Championship away matches (D1).

In fact, Norwich have failed to win any of their last seven away games, although they have at least scored in eight of their nine league road trips this season.

They should take confidence from the fact that they have won each of their last four matches against Watford, including a 2-1 success at Vicarage Road in August’s EFL Cup tie.

Watford Championship form:

W D D W D L

Norwich City Championship form:

L D L L D W

Team News

The hosts are expected to be without Kwadwo Baah, Rocco Vata, Caleb Wiley and Jack Grieves due to injury.

Goalkeeper Egil Selvik could miss a fourth consecutive game through injury, while Nestory Irankunda is unavailable due to personal reasons.

Giorgi Chakvetadze could come into Gracia's thinking after making back-to-back substitute appearances since recovering from injury.

As for the Canaries, their lengthy injury list includes Ben Chrisene, Jose Cordoba, Lucien Mahovo, Gabriel Forsyth, Liam Gibbs, Ante Crnac and Papa Amadou Diallo.

Midfielder Mirko Topic will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in last month's draw with Oxford.

Defender Jack Stacey is another injury concern after he was forced off in the 56th minute of the 3-1 win over QPR.

Watford possible starting lineup:

Baxter; Ngakia, Keben, Pollock, Bola; Chakvetadze, Louza, Kyprianou, Maama; Doumbia, Kjerrumgaard

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Kovacevic; McConville, Duffy, Darling, Fisher; Mattsson, McLean; Forson, Marcondes, Schwartau; Sargent

We say: Watford 1-1 Norwich City

Norwich have shown signs of improvement with a return of four points from their last four matches, and while Watford is a tough team to face at Vicarage Road, the hosts have seen their last two home games finish all square.

With that in mind, we think the two sides will play out a score draw to share the spoils in Saturday's encounter.

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