Norwich City have been drawn at home to Premier League rivals West Bromwich Albion in the Capital One Cup third round, which will kick-off at 8:45 PM on Wednesday. Norwich progressed to the third round by beating Rotherham United 2-1 away from home. Alex Neil’s Canaries will go into this game on the back of an impressive stalemate at Anfield, a game from which his side will take plenty of positives ahead of the important League Cup tie.
For West Bromwich Albion, it’s been rosy in the last two weeks after a troubled transfer window, especially towards the end, marred by Saido Berahino’s antics on social media. The Baggies, though, have started to get the right results on the pitch, including the win over fierce rivals Aston Villa away from home during the weekend, with Berahino scoring the only goal of the match. Pulis felt the win against Villa was their best performance of the season thus far and they should be upbeat ahead of this trip to Norwich. He said,
“Last year the two games (back-to-back defeats at Villa Park) were a real kick in the teeth. We needed to come here and win for our supporters, if nothing else. And I feel we did that. This is the best team performance (of the season) by a mile. I said on Thursday that if we could take how we train into the game then we would have a good day. The lads have looked good all week. They were looking forward to the game and I’m pleased they took that training into the game.”
Team News
Alex Neil doesn’t have any fresh injury concerns ahead of the 3rd round fixture with Mulumbu (Metatarsal) and Hooper (Ankle) the only absentees.
No new injuries for Albion as Ben Foster will be the only one to not make the trip with the goalkeeper recovering from an ACL injury.
Match Facts
- Norwich City have yet to a clean sheet this campaign.
- West Bromwich Albion have yet to lose away from home this season.
Key Men Comparison
Nathan Redmond (Norwich) v Saido Berahino (West Brom)
Redmond has been vital to the Canaries in the league with the quick midfielder scoring twice in the league, setting up one more in 6 appearances. He’s created 14 chances for Norwich (highest) and has the ability to turn the game on its head with a flash of brilliance. Likewise, Albion can rely on another young English forward to deliver come Wednesday in Saido Berahino, who looked to have put his issues with the board aside and started to concentrated on his football which is good news for Tony Pulis and the fans. The forward has opened his Premier League account during the weekend against bitter rivals Aston Villa and will be key to the Baggies’ chances of progressing further.
Prediction
Alex Neil to mastermind a narrow yet dramatic home win.
Norwich City 3-2 West Bromwich Albion
