Football League World
·28 October 2023
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·28 October 2023
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This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Norwich City make the trip to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the Championship this afternoon.
The Canaries enjoyed an excellent start to the season, but their form has declined significantly in recent weeks, and they have now lost six of their last nine games after they were beaten 2-1 by Middlesbrough at Carrow Road on Tuesday night.
Boro took the lead just after the break through Sam Greenwood, with the hosts giving the ball away in the build up to the goal, and they doubled their advantage when Samuel Silvera fired home in the second minute of stoppage time.
Jonathan Rowe halved the deficit in the ninth minute of stoppage time, but the Canaries did not have time to find an equaliser, increasing the pressure on manager David Wagner.
Norwich sit 14th in the table, three points from the play-off places, ahead of the game against the 10th-placed Black Cats, who have lost their last three games.
Norwich will be again be without strikers Josh Sargent and Ashley Barnes, and goalkeeper Angus Gunn will be sidelined until after the November international break.
Defender Grant Hanley and midfielder Jacob Sorensen are back in training, but the game will come too soon for the pair.
FLW's Norwich City fan pundit Zeke Downes believes Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard are the three Sunderland players that the Canaries need to watch out for on Saturday.
Clarke has been in outstanding form this season, and he is currently the top scorer in the Championship with eight goals, while Roberts and Pritchard have both previously spent time at Carrow Road.
"I think that Jack Clarke would be a guy that I'd be a bit fearful of, he looks like a really decent player at this level," Zeke said.
"But I just know, Norwich being Norwich, we're going to lose 2-0, Patrick Roberts will score, Alex Pritchard will score, and then all the Norwich fans will say 'why didn't we keep them?'
"I think Jack Clarke would be the guy that I would be most worried about, but I've not really watched Sunderland too often yet.
"I know they are doing quite well, not amazingly, better than us, but that's not hard."
While Sunderland are on a poor run of form, they were unlucky to come away empty-handed in the 1-0 defeat at leaders Leicester City on Tuesday night, and this could be a tough game for Norwich.
The Canaries have conceded 24 goals so far this season, the joint-most in the division, and the Black Cats' attacking threats, such as Clarke, Roberts and Pritchard, will look to exploit their vulnerability at the back.
With pressure increasing on Wagner after another defeat in midweek, the German needs a result on Wearside, but Sunderland come into the game as favourites.