Aston Villa vs Norwich preview
Friday 3 May 2019 18:41, UK
Aston Villa will rest John McGinn for the visit of title-chasing Norwich on Sunday.
The midfielder is on 14 bookings and one more would see him miss Villa's Sky Bet Championship play-off campaign. Boss Dean Smith also has to decide whether to risk Tammy Abraham after a shoulder injury or keep him fresh for the play-offs, but Anwar El Ghazi is available after having his red card at Leeds overturned.
Jonathan Kodjia should be fit after getting a knock on the calf in the controversial 1-1 draw at Leeds and Kortney Hause (hip) could return along with goalkeeper Lovre Kalanic (knee).
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Norwich need a point to wrap up the Sky Bet Championship title but are without Tom Trybull. The midfielder has been ruled out with an ankle injury after coming off in the Easter Monday game at Stoke.
Louis Thompson (knee) and Carlton Morris (knee) are back in training but are unlikely to feature. The already-promoted Canaries are three points ahead of Sheffield United in the race for the title.
Opta stats
Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last nine home league meetings with Norwich (W6 D3 L0) since losing 2-3 in the Premier League in November 1992.
Norwich are looking to complete a league double over Aston Villa for the first time since the 1992-93 season, when both clubs finished in the top three of the Premier League.
Aston Villa haven't won their final league match of the season in any of the last seven seasons (W0 D2 L5), last winning in 2010-11 against Liverpool.
A draw or win will guarantee Norwich win the Championship title - it would the fourth time they'd won the second tier (also 1971-72, 1985-86 and 2003-04).
Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane has been involved in five goals in five league appearances against Norwich (4 goals, 1 assist), scoring a hat-trick at Villa Park last season.
Norwich striker Teemu Pukki has been involved in 37 Championship goals this season (28 goals, 9 assists), the most by a player in a Championship season since Rickie Lambert in 2011-12 for Southampton (40 - 27 goals, 13 assists).
Prutton's prediction
It looked like it was going to go to the wire for automatic promotion in the Sky Bet Championship, but Leeds' collapse allowed Sheffield United to seal it before the final day, which I must admit I didn't see coming! Boy have the Blades been celebrating since.
Chris Wilder is a driven individual, though, and he will want his team to win at Stoke and give themselves a chance of silverware. They are three points behind Norwich, with a better goal difference, so the title can still be won.
I fancy Sheffield United to turn up at Stoke and nick all three points, and Norwich have a difficult trip to Aston Villa. You don't know how many changes Dean Smith will make in that one with the play-offs coming up, but I have a feeling they could sneak the win and give the Blades the opportunity to claim the title.
David Prutton predicts: 2-1 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
Prutton predicts: Sheffield United to win the Championship (7/2 with Sky Bet)
