Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has predicted that Aston Villa are set for a close clash in their “tough trip” to Norwich City in midweek – but expects there to be a winner.
The Villans, under new boss Dean Smith, secured victory in the former Brentford manager’s first game in charge, Tammy Abraham netting the winner in a 1-0 victory over Swansea City in front of a home crowd.
Prutton is expecting Smith’s men to get on the score sheet once again at Carrow Road, with Norwich coming off the back of a 2-1 win away at Nottingham Forest, but is predicting the Canaries to pull off another win with the same 2-1 result on Tuesday.
He wrote in his Sky Sports column: “Norwich got back to winning ways at the weekend with a late victory at Nottingham Forest, although I’m not too sure many people would have backed Timm Klose to score twice in that game!
“Dean Smith, meanwhile, got off to a perfect start with Aston Villa as they narrowly defeated Swansea. This is a tough trip for them, though, and I feel like Norwich will take the three points.”
Opinion
Norwich are flying high this season and currently sit sixth in the Championship table, just four points off the top. There is no doubt that Aston Villa would love to be where the Canaries are, and they know that victory in their midweek showdown would be enough to leapfrog them in the table, as they currently sit three points behind and on the same goal difference. It will not be easy for the Villans, that much is sure, but these are the sort of games that the club have to now win if they want to remain in with a chance of securing a top six spot come the end of the season. If they do suffer defeat, as Prutton predicts, then it is already setting them the tough task of playing catch up. Beating the lower ranked teams is of course a must to end the campaign with some sort of success, but it is these sort of clashes which determine the victors from the disappointed come the end of the season.