Norwich City vs Southampton
EFL Championship
Monday
1st January 2024
Carrow Road
The most comprehensive preview, detailed analysis and reliable predictions of the EFL Championship fixture between Norwich City and Southampton.
Norwich City vs Southampton: Preview
Norwich City form analysis
The Canaries came into this busy festive period sitting comfortably inside the Championship playoff spots before showcasing promotion credentials over this excellent run. On December 14th, stylish Norwich started brightly at home by beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 thanks chiefly to a Rowe brace adding to Spanish winger Sainz’s early opener before conceding a late consolation. Building momentum away at local rivals Ipswich four days later, clinical Norwich twice came from behind through Rowe’s double to earn a spirited 2-2 derby draw after the hosts led early through Broadhead.
With confidence high, free scoring Norwich prevailed 2-0 at home over Huddersfield on December 23rd courtesy of further goals from Scotsman McCallum along with Sainz before the Spaniard later saw red. Needing to regroup away at promotion rivals West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day, focused Norwich succumbed to a narrow 0-1 defeat after a tight affair settled by Thomas-Asante’s strike. Most recently away at fellow playoff hopefuls Millwall, unlucky Norwich endured last gasp heartbreak by losing 0-1 to Bradshaw’s winner after dominating throughout.
Southampton form analysis
Southampton has been in strong recent form, going undefeated over their last five matches across all competitions. Their most recent match was a 2-1 home victory over Plymouth Argyle on December 29th. Goals from Carlos Alcaraz and Che Adams gave Southampton a 2-0 lead before Plymouth pulled one back late. This follows a dominant 5-0 home thrashing of Swansea City on December 26th, with five different Southampton players getting on the scoresheet. Prior to that was a gritty 1-0 away win at Queens Park Rangers thanks to a 42nd minute goal from defender Tyler Harwood-Bellis. Southampton played to a 1-1 draw with Coventry City on December 14th after Hamza Choudhury had given the visitors an early lead.
Their most impressive recent performance was a 4-0 demolition of Blackburn Rovers on December 16th, with striker Sekou Mara netting along with Sam Edozie, Stuart Armstrong, and Alcaraz. Based on this strong run of form across multiple competitions with wins both home and away, Southampton seems to be hitting their stride with attacking players like Edozie, Mara, and Adams complementing a disciplined backline marshalled by Harwood-Bellis. If they can maintain this level of play, Southampton could challenge for a top half finish in the league table.
