Aston Villa vs Norwich City Preview

Article by e-Norwich Correspondent Colin Rowe

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With only goal difference separating them in the Premiership table, the Canaries travel to the Midlands on Sunday for what has become a grudge match in the last two seasons.

Since Paul Lambert left Carrow Road in 2012, Norwich have faced their old manager four times, three league games and a League Cup quarter final, and have just a solitary draw in October 2012 to show for it.

Despite months of legal wrangling over compensation for Paul Lambert’s departure, the poaching of City’s goalkeeping prospect Jed Steer, the rumours surrounding Wes Hoolahan this January and Grant Holt’s eventual reunion with the man who brought him to Norfolk (following an unsuccessful stint at Wigan) you would be hard pressed to find a member of the Y’Army who hold much ill will towards the old gaffer.

Regardless of the nature of his departure Norwich accept the fantastic job Lambert did, securing two promotions in two seasons and Premiership survival with the contents of a begging cup for a transfer budget.

Grant Holt, assuming he features, will also surely get a positive reception, as you would expect for a three-time player of the season who had a massive impact in both promotion and Premiership survival seasons.

Having said that, every Norwich fan heading to Villa Park or tuning in to watch the game on television will be hoping the Canary’s can finally put this particular dog to bed and secure another vital three points.

Both teams head into the fixture at opposite ends of the motivational spectrum.

City secured a vital and famous 1-0 win over Spurs last weekend to pull themselves away from the relegation scrap, while Villa’s failure to win in the last four games has seen them drop down the table.

The reverse tie earlier in the season was one of a number of disappointing set-backs for Chris Hughton’s men, with a solitary goal from Libor Kozak securing a win for Villa in a game Norwich dominated for large periods, but failed to score a goal.

This despite being awarded a penalty in the first five minutes, which Robert Snodgrass uncharacteristically missed, despite putting himself ahead of Ricky van Wolfswinkel in the spot-kick pecking order.

On the injury front there is good and bad news for Norwich.

The good news for Norwich fans is Jonny Howson’s turn out in an under 21s development game mid-week, which could put him in contention for a starting place at the weekend. The bad news is a potential hamstring injury for Leroy Fer which could see him out for 6 to 10 weeks, with the extent of the knock being assessed.

This would be a major blow for City, but with Alex Tettey and Bradley Johnson in-form, Hoolahan back in the fray and Howson returning it is less of a headache than it could have been.

Michael Turner, Elliott Bennett and Jonas Gutierrez are also all side-lined, while Ryan Bennett is available again, but will struggle to unseat Joseph Yobo in central defence.

Tactically this is another difficult game to predict for Norwich.

A win against fellow strugglers has the double whammy of lifting City further away from relegation while putting Villa squarely in the dog-fight, but a draw would be equally welcome away from home.

Many, including myself, were surprised at how positively Norwich played against Tottenham and it would be wonderful if a similar performance could be repeated against a team noted for a leaky defence.

However, despite not scoring in their last three games, Villa are capable of getting goals so Norwich will have to be organised at the back.

As much as it would please City fans, it is hard to imagine they will recreate the Tottenham performance at Villa Park and the more likely set-up will be for a cagey, low-scoring affair with both managers sitting in the do-not-lose camp, although this suits Hughton much more than the more attacking minded Lambert.

It would be surprising if Norwich named many changes to the victorious side from last weekend and would be equally confusing if Hughton did not try to capitalise on the new found optimism.

The only major question is who replaces Fer in midfield?

Howson is only just returning from injury and so probably would not be thrust straight back into the starting line-up, while a second striker in an important away game does not suit Hughton’s style.

With this in mind could the attention then turn to Hoolahan, who could be seen as a natural replacement for the Dutchman spearheading the midfield, or will the gaffer once again turn his eyes to Elmander as a player who can hold up the ball?

Predicted Line-Up: Ruddy, Martin, Yobo, Bassong, Olsson, Tettey, Johnson, Hoolahan, Snodgrass, Redmond, van Wolfswinkel.

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