Aston Villa will be hoping to keep their promotion hopes alive when they face Norwich City at Carrow Road tonight.
This was a top-flight fixture last season and both teams have endured opposing starts to their respective campaigns with the Villans struggling at the beginning and getting better as it goes on, while the Canaries started well but have hit a real blip as the busy festive period approaches.
Steve Bruce’s side beat one of his old clubs, Wigan Athletic, 1-0 at Villa Park at the weekend with Jack Grealish’s 88th-minute stunner proving to be the difference between the two sides as the MiIdlanders moved to within four points of the play-offs.
There was no such elation for the ninth-placed Canaries, who have lost six of their last seven league matches, as they were beaten 2-1 by Barnsley at Oakwell with the Tykes’ recording their first home league win since August.
Here is FootballFanCast’s Villa XI that will take all three points back to Birmingham…
GK: Pierluigi Gollini
The young Italian stopper kept his first clean sheet in six matches at the weekend and he won’t have had many easier afternoons in his short career than the one he had against a lowly Wigan side at Villa Park.
The Latics failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes and Gollini will certainly be expecting to be more busy against the Canaries as he looks to pick up successive shut-outs.
RB: Alan Hutton
Clean sheets can breed confidence for defences in the Championship and Villa will hope that is the case after they kept Wigan at bay on Saturday.
Again, it was a relatively comfortable afternoon for the Scottish full-back but he could be in for a sterner test at Norwich as he comes up against 21-year-old winger Josh Murphy, who is a tricky customer out wide.
Hutton will need to use his experience to keep the attack quiet.
CB: Tommy Elphick
Following a spell on the sidelines because of injury, Aston Villa’s captain is back in the side and forming a great partnership with James Chester at the heart of the defence.
The duo helped their team keep a clean sheet against Wigan on Saturday and Elphick will need to be at his best to keep Canaries striker Nelson Oliveira quiet – the Portuguese striker has netted in his side’s last two matches including a 25-yard shot in the defeat to Barnsley at the weekend.
CB: James Chester
The Welshman has been one of Villa’s best players this season and whether he has lined up alongside skipper Elphick or Nathan Baker, he has put in committed performance after committed performance at the back.
Those showings were rewarded with a shut-out against Wigan but he should come up against tougher attacking opposition at Carrow Road, where he may need to put his body on the line again so his side can take all three points.
LB: Jordan Amavi
The Frenchman is one of the best left-backs in the Championship and after missing the majority of last season through injury, he is fit and hoping to lead Villa back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
He could face one of his toughest tests of the campaign so far vs. Norwich, though, as he comes up against their top goalscorer Jacob Murphy, who has netted seven goals in all competitions for Alex Neil’s side.
CM: Ashley Westwood
The midfielder was relegated to the substitutes’ bench for the visit of Wigan at the weekend but he could well be back in the starting XI for the trip to Norwich.
Steve Bruce has generally played with three central midfielders away from home and although he may not do that at Carrow Road because of the form of Jack Grealish, Westwood could start in place of Gary Gardner, who was taken off after an hour against the Latics after he had something of an off day.
CM: Mile Jedinak
The Australian midfielder seems to be Bruce’s preferred enforcer in the middle of the park this season with Westwood and Gardner often rotating for a place alongside him in central midfield.
The former Crystal Palace man will certainly be put to the test at Carrow Road, where he will need to keep a close eye on Norwich’s Alex Pritchard, with the attacking midfielder renowned for his quality on the ball, creativity and the goal threat he provides.
RM: Albert Adomah
While Steve Bruce may have been slightly worried that his side only just beat a lowly Wigan 1-0 at the weekend, he will also understand how difficult it can be to break down a team that come for a point.
Ghanian winger Adomah did his best to break down the Latics’ defence and he will look to use his pace and power to trouble Robbie Brady, as well as stopping the attacking threat of the Republic of Ireland international.
LM: Jordan Ayew
While he may not have got the number of goals and assists that Bruce would have liked, there is no doubt that the Ghanaian is one Villa’s biggest attacking threats.
He has that unpredictability and can create a chance or a goal out of nothing, and that is a key attribute in the Championship when sides can often be separated by a moment of magic.
CAM: Jack Grealish
As we mentioned before, Bruce has tended to go with three central midfielders for the club’s away matches this season but with Grealish showing some fine form and scoring a brilliant winning goal on Saturday, it may be hard to name him on the substitutes’ bench for the trip to the Canaries.
The 21-year-old has the ability to unlock opposition defences as well as score from outside the penalty area – and that unpredictability could be what is needed for Villa to take all three points back to the Midlands.
ST: Jonathan Kodjia
The Ivory Coast international has shown that he is Steve Bruce’s preferred option up top and as well as being the club’s top goalscorer with seven goals, it is his all-round play that means he is his manager’s main man in the striker’s position.
Flanked by Adomah and Ayew, Kodjia will look to cause a Norwich defence that has looked vulnerable in recent weeks problems, and he looks set to battle against Sebastien Bassong and Ryan Bennett at the heart of the Canaries’ rearguard.
