Norwich City vs. Wolves
Venue: Carrow Road
Kick off: 4PM
Wolverhampton Wanderers make the long trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City looking to respond to last weekend’s last-gasp defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
While Wolves received widespread plaudits for their performance against Spurs last weekend, the 2-1 defeat to the North London side ultimately ended their 11-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Going a prolonged period without suffering defeat resulted in Wolves moving as high as fifth position, but the club now find themselves in a situation where a second successive setback could lead to dropping down into the bottom half of the standings.
Given their overall progression in recent months, Nuno Espirito Santo will not be too concerned, although the competitive nature for a top-six spot this season means that Wolves can ill afford a run of three games without a win.
However, the Portuguese may feel that his close-knit squad can only have benefitted from having no match in midweek, something which has not happened since the beginning of the campaign.
In theory, the small rest period has come at the right time with Wolves facing back-to-back encounters with Manchester City and Liverpool after Saturday’s visit to the East Coast.
As for Norwich, they head into the game having failed to emerge victorious from any of their last four outings, but Daniel Farke will be pleased with the recent performances from his team.
After being unfortunate to miss out on points against Southampton and Sheffield United respectively, Norwich impressed in claiming a draw away at in-form Leicester last weekend.
The Canaries found themselves under pressure in the East Midlands, especially during the second half, but there were times when they should have perhaps taken advantage of opportunities towards the end of the contest.
Despite having mixed feelings at the end of the game, Farke would have been delighted with the mindset of his players, who could have easily accepted that a point against the title challengers was more than respectable.
Ahead of home clashes with Wolves, Spurs and Crystal Palace, the result and manner of the performance should put Norwich in a good frame of mind as they bid to make up ground on 17th-placed Aston Villa, who they also face over the Christmas period.
Norwich City possible XI: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, Byram, Tettey, Trybull, Buendia, McLean, Cantwell, Pukki.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible XI: Patricio, Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny, Traore, Jimenez, Jota.