A revitalised Norwich City will be looking to make it three victories in succession when they travel to Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Canaries beat Leicester City in the league last time out before progressing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup courtesy of a penalty-shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening.
Match preview
© Reuters
Like Norwich, Sheffield United are also present in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup having beaten Reading 2-1 after extra time on Tuesday night. The Blades will take on Arsenal in the last eight of the competition later this month, but their immediate focus will be on the Premier League.
It has been a wonderful campaign for the Blades, who currently sit eighth in the table with a record of 10 wins, 10 draws and seven defeats from their 27 matches.
Chris Wilder's side are only two points off fifth-placed Manchester United and just five behind Chelsea in fourth with a game in hand on both teams. They have picked up seven points from their last three league matches but were held at home by Brighton & Hove Albion on February 22.
The Blades have two winnable matches to come against Norwich and Newcastle United before starting April with a home clash against Tottenham. They had been due to take on Man United on March 21 but that fixture has now been postponed due to the FA Cup.
Sheffield United ran out 2-1 winners when they travelled to Carrow Road earlier this season, while they have not lost to the Canaries since September 2017.
© Reuters
As mentioned, Norwich also booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a penalty-shootout win over Tottenham on Wednesday night; it was a very poor result for Jose Mourinho's team, but the Canaries deserve huge credit for matching the capital giants before triumphing in the shootout.
The result at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium followed a 1-0 success over Leicester in the Premier League last Friday. Daniel Farke's side are still propping up the division on 21 points, but the result against the Foxes appears to have given them a fighting chance of survival.
As it stands, they are six points from the safety of 17th position, meaning that another win this weekend would truly ignite their battle for survival.
The Canaries have a huge game at home to Southampton next weekend, before the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at home to either Derby County or Manchester United.
April will then open with a trip to Arsenal, and it is certainly worth considering that two of Norwich's final three games of the 2019-20 Premier League campaign are against Chelsea and Manchester City.
Sheffield United Premier League form: WDLWWD
Sheffield United form (all competitions): LWWWDW
Norwich Premier League form: WLDLLW
Norwich form (all competitions): WDLLWW
Team News
© Reuters
Wilder revealed on Thursday morning that he has a fully-fit squad heading into this weekend's contest with John Fleck and Enda Stevens both being passed fit.
The Blades did not pick up any injury concerns against Reading, and David McGoldrick's goal could see the forward given the nod alongside Oli McBurnie in the final third of the field.
Billy Sharp and Lys Mousset are also options, though, and it will be fascinating to see which way Wilder goes as the former Championship side look for their 11th Premier League win of the season.
As for Norwich, Timm Klose, Sam Byram, Christoph Zimmermann and Onel Hernandez are all injured, but Emiliano Buendia overcame a knock to feature against Tottenham and will again start here.
Teemu Pukki was an unused substitute against Spurs but will return, while Alexander Tettey, Kenny McLean and Ondrej Duda should all return to the starting XI for the league contest.
Todd Cantwell has scored six Premier League goals this season and will again feature in a wide area.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Basham, Egan, O'Connell; Stevens, Fleck, Norwood, Berge, Baldock; McBurnie, McGoldrick
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Godfrey, Lewis; McLean, Tettey; Cantwell, Duda, Buendia; Pukki
We say: Sheffield United 1-0 Norwich City
Norwich will arrive at Bramall Lane full of confidence, but it is difficult to look past Sheffield United due to their form this term; we expect the Blades to put another three points on the board.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 54.77%. A draw had a probability of 24.4% and a win for had a probability of 20.87%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.4%) and 2-1 (9.62%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.56%), while for a win it was 0-1 (6.95%).