(Featured image: Alamy Images)
David Wagner's Norwich City look to maintain their position in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places when they host struggling Plymouth Argyle on Friday afternoon.
The away side find themselves hanging precariously above the relegation places as we enter the final stretch of the season. Kick-off is set for 3pm at Carrow Road.
The Canaries have won six of their last nine league outings, losing only once in the process. The run of form has seen Norwich move to sixth in the Championship table and harbouring ambitions of a Premier League return after they were relegated from the top-flight in 2022.
Their home form has been pivotal in their success so far this year, with Wagner's side averaging 2.16 points per game at Carrow Road (W13, D2, L4). Fortunately so given their abysmal form on the road, where they've averaged just 1.05 PPG this campaign.
Norwich have been brilliant going forward so far, bettering an already impressive expected goal (xG) tally of 1.56 by scoring an average of 1.95 goals at home so far. Their defensive tally also makes for positive reading, with them conceding just 0.95 per home game. This exceeds their expected goals against (xGA) projection of 1.22 per home match.
The importance of Norwich's home form cannot be understated given their troubles on the road, where they've shipped a worrying 1.89 goals per game.
Games at Carrow Road have also made for a great watch for neutral observers. An average of 2.89 total goals have been scored there so far.
Ian Foster's side find themselves 18th heading into the match, just two points above the dreaded relegation zone. Argyle have lost three of their last four and haven't won since a 2-0 away victory at Middlesbrough at the end of February.
Their away form has been abysmal so far and will need to improve if they are to avoid the drop this year. After 19 away matches, they've picked up just 0.68 points per game (W2, D7, L10). Only three sides have a worse record on the road in the Championship.
Just 16 away goals have left them with 0.84 scored per match which falls far below their projected xG tally of 1.23. They've also struggled in defensive quarters, conceding 1.53 per match which matches their projected xGA of 1.54.
They've conceded in 74% of games on their travels, while 47% of those matches have seen them concede at least two goals. They've also conceded three or more in a worrying 21% of matches on the road.
To make matters worse, they've scored two or more in only 16% of away games so far. Plymouth have not yet scored three or more in a single away match this term.
It should come as no surprise to see Norwich coming in as strong favourites for this one. There is however little value on the moneyline, with the home side coming in at a best of 1/2 outright.
Plymouth's dismal away record makes backing them on the moneyline borderline nonsencical, but their habit of conceding heavy on the road suggests more goals could lie in wait in this one. Coupled with Norwich's own goalscoring habits, which have seen them score at least three in 26% of home games this season, OddsNow expect plenty of goalscoring action at Carrow Road.