Norwich City vs Manchester United. Premier League.
Carrow RoadAttendance27,132.
Saturday 7 May 2016 13:09, UK
Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin are pushing for a start as Manchester United travel to Norwich on Saturday.
The lunchtime kick-off has a great deal riding on it at both ends of the table, with United chasing a top four finish, and Norwich out to secure Premier League survival.
Louis van Gaal's men can close the gap on their bitter rivals Manchester City to just one point with victory at Carrow Road, but their poor away record means that Norwich have every chance of doing the double over the 20-time top flight champions, following their December success at Old Trafford.
United have won just two of their last 10 Premier League away games, but bettering that stat could do Van Gaal's chances of prolonging his stay at Old Trafford a world of good.
The Canaries are languishing in 19th, two points from safety, and with 17th-placed Newcastle taking on already relegated Aston Villa on Saturday, anything other than victory could leave Alex Neil's men with a mountain to climb.
Team news
United will be without the suspended Marouane Fellaini for their trip East Anglia.
Fellaini was handed a three-game ban on Thursday following his tussle with Leicester's Robert Huth last weekend.
Herrera and Schneiderlin are vying for midfield recalls, but Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee) and Luke Shaw (broken leg) remain out.
Norwich will monitor defender Ryan Bennett, who has been struggling with illness. Bennett was forced to miss the trip to Arsenal last week and will be assessed in the run-up to the televised lunchtime kick-off.
The relegation-threatened Canaries are without Swiss centre-back Timm Klose and on-loan Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom because of knee problems, while midfielder Alex Tettey will also miss the rest of the campaign following ankle surgery.
Opta stats
Norwich have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches at Carrow Road (W1 D2 L4).
United have never lost home and away to a promoted side in the same Premier League season.
The Canaries have lost five of their previous seven home Premier League games to Manchester United, winning the other two in April 2005 and November 2012.
Louis van Gaal's side have scored just four goals in their last six Premier League away matches.
Juan Mata has scored more Premier League goals against Norwich City than any other opponent (4).
Only Aston Villa (13) have lost more Premier League games in 2016 than Alex Neil's side (11, level with Palace).
The Canaries have given away nine penalties and conceded eight penalty goals this season, both Premier League-highs.
Anthony Martial has scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, more than any other Man United player.
Norwich's joint top-scorers in the Premier League have just five goals each (Dieumerci Mbokani and Nathan Redmond); no team has a lower top scoring player in the top-flight this season (Crystal Palace also five).
Merson's predictions
I think this will be a good game, it's one of those that both teams have to win. There's no point playing like Man City, they're both going to come out and have a go, and I'll go Man United to pip it in a high-scoring game. It'll be entertaining, Norwich are fighting for their lives and so are United but in a different context. I just don't see this one being a boring game.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-3 (Sky Bet odds 28/1)
Betting
Bournemouth are odds-on at 10/11 with Sky Bet to claim maximum points against West Brom (14/5) with the draw trading at 5/2.
The Cherries have scored exactly one goal in each of their last four games and Sky Bet have given odds of 15/8 for them to do this again. Charlie Nicholas is backing Callum Wilson to score first, which Sky Bet have enhanced from 13/2 to 15/2 in their Price Boost.
