City will be looking for their first victory since 30th September (!) when they travel to the Welsh capital to play Championship highflyers Cardiff City, who have the best home form in the league with 16 points from a possible 18.
The Bluebirds will begin this matchday seventh in the table, whilst the Canaries sit 17th after a four-match losing streak. They also haven’t won at the Cardiff City Stadium since January 2021 – where there were no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Goals from Grant Hanley and Todd Cantwell earned them a 2-1 win that day.
There may well be some Cardiff fans who still expect their side to slide back down the standings given their mid-table finishes over the last few seasons, but after seven points and three clean sheets in their last three games, even the most pessimistic fans should dream of a return to the Premier League.
However, there will be a tinge of annoyance amongst their fans after the goalless draw with Stoke City last weekend, but they are still seventh and only four points behind Leeds United in third.
In sharp contrast, City look like a side devoid of confidence no matter where they play their football. David Wagner’s side have nine losses in their last 12 outings.
To make matters worse, they were booed off the pitch after last Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers at Carrow Road, despite having a man advantage for 36 minutes of the second half.
They have now conceded 11 in their last four matches, and our only two victories since the start of September have come at Carrow Road (1-0 vs Stoke City and 2-0 vs Birmingham City).
However, the Canaries boast the fourth-most goals in the Championship away from home, yet Wagner is very much aware of the fact that losing this game could cost him his job over the upcoming international break. despite him stating in his pre-match press conference that Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones still back him alongside the new Sporting Director, Ben Knapper.
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TEAM NEWS:
Cardiff manager Erol Bulut may make changes in the attacking third after his side drew a blank against Stoke. Rubin Colwill and Kion Etete come into contention as alternatives to Callum Robinson and Yakou Meite, with Ike Ugbo also in with a chance of a recall.
However, both Callum O’Dowda and Aaron Ramsey (no, not that one) remain out of contention due to injury.
City are without the suspended Shane Duffy, who joins Ben Gibson on the sidelines – but there is that Grant Hanley could either travel with the matchday squad or feature for the U23s.
You would like to believe that Danny Batth will be drafted into the side, despite the fact Wagner doesn’t seem to want to play him, to partner young Jaden Warner, while Sam McCallum, Borja Sainz and Adam Idah are among the other players who will hope for an opportunity.
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PREDICTED LINEUPS:
Cardiff City (4-2-3-1): Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Siopis, Ralls; Bowler, Colwill, Grant; Etete
As mentioned above, Robinson and Meite may make way for Colwill and Etete as the Bluebirds look to take advantage of City’s weakened defence.
Perry Ng at right-back has been Cardiff’s standout performer so far this season, with three goals and one assist in 14 games.
Norwich City (4-2-3-1): Long; Stacey, Batth, Warner, Giannoulis; Sara, McLean; Rowe, Nunez, Sainz; Hwang
I’m expecting two changes from the Blackburn catastrophe for the Canaries – with Batth and Sainz to both make their first Championship start in place of Duffy and Onel Hernandez at the weekend.
Despite the fact he’s only scored once for Norwich, I again expect Hwang Ui-Jo to start given the fact that he looked as if he was the only player against Blackburn giving 100% effort, with relentless pressing and moving into wide areas of the pitch to receive the ball rather than the actual wingers.
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This is the last chance for Wagner. Especially now that Knapper is coming in earlier than expected, and if he wants to prove to the fans that it will be better under him – the first step is changing the man who is in charge of getting you results.
This would be the perfect game to turn it around, but I doubt even the most optimistic of Norwich fans can see it happening. Let’s hope for the best, but we must expect the worst with this team right now.
I salute anyone making the long trip, and, hopefully, they can come back with something, but, given Cardiff’s home form and our lack of it regardless of who we play, I have a feeling it will be a long trip back home from South Wales.
How do you think the game will go? Will this be the last game of the Wagner era at NCFC? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
OTBC.
It is difficult to see it as Wagner’s last game after the reported support he has received this week. Like most people I expect nothing other than defeat from this game.
What kind of club brings in a new sporting director and hands him a mess like this. If Wagner had gone and a temporary appointment made he would be coming into a more positive situation.
Miracles don’t happen in the 21st century. For us to take anything from this game will take one.
I am not convinced replacing a decent man David Wagner with a Nigel Pearson or John Eustace will improve our team, any more than Dean Smith and his fat controller did. I would drag Neil Adams from his warm office to act as manager and promote a bunch of academy players to show us their skills and speed – with Grant Hanley fitted with a transplant battery powered megaphone to order them about.
Cardiff score a lot of their goals from set pieces so I wonder if Hanley will come back as he’s good at defending them. They also seem a strong, physical, determined team so if we’re not 100% committed then it could be an embarrassing scoreline.
With lame duck Wagner limping on for yet another game the likelihood of scraping a rot-stopping point is virtually zero.
Wagner and his coaching staff have totally lost the plot and will continue to carry on the same route regardless of how obvious to the rest of the world is that it simply doesn’t work.
With that in mind I would expect Baath to be nowhere near the starting 11 with Hanley catapulted in to take the place of the hapless Duffy, thankfully banned for a week – sadly not longer.
Due to the total lack of a defensive midfielder, I expect Wagner will continue with his appalling double-pivot nonsense, which will mean Sara piddling about on the edge of his own box and declining to tackle and McLean getting dragged all over the place trying to cover errant full-backs or plug gaps left by sloppy turnovers.
Up front, Hernandez will yet again get the mod ahead of Sainz, who Wagner apparently doesn’t rate. Rowe will continue to be dragged down to the levels of those around him and after Hwang’s ineffective 10 kilometre run last Sunday, I expect Idah to get the nod this week as a non-scoring striker.
On 60 minutes Hernandez will be replaced, possibly by Sainz but more likely by Springett, and Fisher will come on for Stacey who will have had a nightmare.
The likelihood of a 3-0 defeat will do nothing to calm the growing mood and Wagner will talk once again about how we played well but didn’t take opportunities at the right times and made too many individual errors. Then he will once again thank our hapless owners for allowing him to wipe his backside on our football club while we watch or listen on helplessly, wishing someone would plant a bomb under the lot of them.
Now prove me wrong if you’ve git the balls.
Hi Freddie
Hopefully it’s not nightmare on Cardiff’s Pitch
Are the owners and BK playing the ‘we back you’ game with kitchen knives at the ready to stab Wagner in the back come Monday no matter the result?
This vote of confidence just seems wrong at this time when the manager is under so much pressure to get things right on the pitch – it’s holding out a promise that I just can’t see being kept, even if we have a big away win the die is cast and they want to keep their options open.
Could we see a change just before his next contract kicks in so no compensation? Our the owners that devious?
Could we win in Cardiff , of course.
Will we win in Cardiff, er , well , um , do I have to answer that.
If we don’t release the manager after the inevitable our game after the break is against QPR. I hope it’s not inevitability delayed, as failure in that game is unthinkable.