Norwich vs Bournemouth preview
Watch match highlights at 5.15pm on Saturday on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app
Friday 17 January 2020 15:39, UK
Team news, key stats and prediction ahead of Norwich vs Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
Team news
Teemu Pukki is set to return for Daniel Farke's Norwich as they host Bournemouth in a relegation battle at Carrow Road on Saturday. The Finland international is the club's top scorer this season with nine Premier League goals but has not played since New Year's Day because of a hamstring problem.
Defender Ben Godfrey is also expected to return for the Canaries, having not played since December 14, while striker Josip Drmic is also fully fit.
Bournemouth will assess goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale ahead of the trip to Carrow Road. Ramsdale has returned to light training after missing last weekend's loss to Watford due to a minor hamstring injury, with Mark Travers available to deputise once again.
Defender Lloyd Kelly is unlikely to feature as he continues to work his way back from a thigh problem, while Joshua King, Jack Stacey (both hamstring), David Brooks (ankle), Chris Mepham, Charlie Daniels (both knee), Arnaut Danjuma (foot) and Junior Stanislas (calf) remain out.
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How to follow
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on Saturday on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Norwich won the only previous Premier League match between the Canaries and Bournemouth at Carrow Road, a 3-1 victory in September 2015 under Alex Neil.
- Bournemouth have lost two of their last 14 league games against Norwich (W6 D6), though these games are stretched across a period of 63 years (1956 to 2019).
- This is the fifth meeting between the bottom two sides in the Premier League this season - no campaign in the competition has ever seen more such games (also five in 2004-05 and 1998-99). This is the first such match this term not involving Watford.
- Norwich have won just one of their last 17 Premier League games (D5 L11), winning 2-0 at Everton in November. The Canaries are also winless in their last nine (D4 L5).
- Norwich haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last 15 Premier League home games - the last team to have a longer such run in the competition were Aston Villa between December 2012-October 2013 (16 games).
- Bournemouth haven't scored a goal with any of their last 31 shots in the Premier League; the longest current run of all sides in the competition
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Oh my! This is where Jeff's wallet opens and then closes. There is always one game and you think will be tight, but you cannot call who will win here. It will be tight, but it will be tense.
This is the game I quite like watching too as it will be exactly that. Who is confident enough to get on the ball? Who will make the difference? Who will make a mistake? Eddie Howe needs to get the balance right of attack and scoring goals but Bournemouth need to stop conceding.
Norwich are in a must-win scenario where they sit eight points off with 16 games to go. Norwich will go after it, so we may get an open game of football. Bournemouth need something from it, a win may close the gap and lift the whole camp, for either side. I see tension, I see many mistakes, but I see this being a game with goals galore. This result will not help Norwich.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 3-3 (50/1 with Sky Bet)
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