Norwich vs QPR Prediction: Canaries back on song at Carrow Road

A 3-2 victory over Cardiff City looks to have borrowed David Wagner some more time as Norwich City boss, but the 52-year-old will know that only a win against QPR at Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon (15:00) will keep fans on side.

Prior to that win in South Wales, Norwich had lost seven of their last nine Championship games - winning just once - and that dismal run of form has heaped pressure on the German-born manager.

Wins have been even harder to come by for QPR, who haven't picked up three points since September 2nd, though draws in Marti Cifuentes' first two games in charge did at least stop the rot after six defeats in a row.

Team News

Shane Duffy returns for the Canaries after sitting out their win over Cardiff through suspension, but Josh Sargent, Ashley Barnes and Ben Gibson are among those still injured.

QPR will get a player of their own back from a one-game ban, with playmaker Ilias Chair in line for a return to the starting XI.

Match Odds

Norwich are considered big favourites to win at 8/13, while it's 13/5 for Carrow Road to witness its first draw of the 2023/24 campaign. QPR's two wins in the Championship have both come away from home, and it's 18/5 if you fancy them to make it a third.

Both teams to score has won in Norwich's last seven games, and it's 8/11 for them to make it eight in a row.

Norwich to win & over 2.5 goals @ 6/4

This is a meeting of two of the leakiest defences in the division, so I'm inclined to back goals in this one.

Norwich, in fact, have conceded the joint-most amount (32) along with Rotherham, while Huddersfield (28) are the only other club to have let in more than QPR (27). The Hoops did keep their second clean sheet of the season last time out but, against a goal-shy Bristol City side under a new manager, I'm not taking too much away from that.

No team has been involved in more games with over 2.5 goals than Norwich (12 - joint with Plymouth, Southampton and Blackburn Rovers), and I expect the goals to keep on coming at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Four defeats in their last five at home is a worrying statistic for Norwich, who had won their first three of the season, but they can take solace in the fact that all of those losses were against clubs currently in the top-half, and this week's fixture is against second-bottom QPR.

With a vastly superior squad, Norwich should emerge victorious, even if they can't keep it tight at the back.

Ilias Chair to score anytime @ 7/2

With a few of their forwards away on international duty, it's difficult to nail down exactly who will start in the Canaries attack on Saturday.

Providing more value to score is QPR's mercurial Moroccan, Chair, who scored his first goal of the season in Cifuentes' first game in charge at Rotherham before a fifth yellow card of the campaign ruled him out of the goalless draw with Bristol City.

It's been a slow start to the season for Chair, whose struggles have mirrored that of his club, but that goal in South Yorkshire could be the lift-off he and the Hoops need.

The 26-year-old wasn't called up for international duty either, meaning he has had nearly three weeks rest since his last game, and that time out of action should see him return fit and firing as Cifuentes looks to move the West London club up the Championship table.

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