After four games without a win, Norwich City travel to Sheffield to take on the 13th-placed Owls. Two defeats and two draws dropped the Canaries from the summit of the table, down to 5th, now only two points ahead of rivals Ipswich and four points off top of the table Derby.
It’s been five years since the two sides met, a 0-1 defeat at Carrow Road thanks to a goal from Jermaine Johnson just after half time for the visitors. Notable Norwich starters included David Marshall, Alan Gow, Lee Croft, Sammy Clingan and David Mooney – it’s clear that City have come a long way since then. Norwich finished 22nd in the Championship that year with Wednesday nine places above them, suffering relegation to League One. Of course, no Norwich fan could have predicted what would happen in that three years that followed that, with the arrival of Paul Lambert and Grant Holt.
This season, Wednesday have performed above expectations yet are always a constant presence in the middle of the table. A key man for the Owls could be Scottish striker Stevie May, who was a prolific scorer in the Scottish leagues – twenty-six goals in thirty-three games for Hamilton Academical proves that. Kosovar-born striker Atdhe Nuhiu leads the scoring charts with just the five goals in total (three in the league) so far, but his 6 foot 6’ frame will cause the City defence problems, especially with the well-known issues at the back. That is not Norwich’s only weakness; just two goals in those four uninspiring games is a cause for concern for Adams. With the frontline not firing, something needs to change. It’s Adams’ first big challenge.
Norwich have looked better and played more attractive football in a 4-2-3-1 formation utilised at the start of the season, and with the 4-4-2 faltering, we could see a return to the five-man midfield. Cracks are starting to show and the cutting edge has been lacking. Adams can’t turn to the injured Wes Hoolahan to try and create, and Josh Murphy’s poor performance on Tuesday against Leeds calls into question his ability to start games – he’s more influential coming off the bench. It wasn’t entirely the wingers’ fault; when one has the pace and skill of Murphy and Nathan Redmond, the ball needs to be played in front of them so they can run on to it and get up to speed quickly. That hasn’t happened. At least a corner was actually successful on Tuesday.
A dismal performance from Steven Whittaker at right back should mean that Adams returns Russell Martin to his best position and Ignasi Miquel could make a competitive start. Otherwise, the midfield duo of Alex Tettey and Jonny Howson does not need changing. Nathan Redmond is guaranteed a place in the starting line-up, whilst Kyle Lafferty is suspended so it will offer Murphy a reprieve on the left. Whether Cameron Jerome will be in the right frame of mind after the alleged racial abuse will be another issue, as his game dropped off after the incident.
PREDICTION: SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 2-1 NORWICH CITY
