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Norwich City will host Birmingham City at Carrow Road on Tuesday night in the first round of the EFL Cup.
The Canaries have struggled to get going in the Championship this season. They were beaten 1-0 by Cardiff City in their opening game before playing out a 1-1 draw against the league's new boys Wigan Athletic in their second. Norwich thrashed Bournemouth 6-0 in their opening cup game last season and will hope to hit similar heights this week.
Birmingham, meanwhile, have enjoyed a positive start to their league campaign despite facing last season's playoff teams in their first two games. They held on for a goalless draw against Luton Town in their first game before beating Huddersfield Town 2-1 in their next.
The Blues have been knocked out at this stage of the domestic tournament in three of the last four seasons but will hope to fare better this time.
Norwich City vs Birmingham City Head-to-Head
There have been 72 meetings between Norwich and Birmingham. The hosts have won 26 of those games, while Birmingham have won 23. There have been 23 draws between the two teams. The two sides last faced off in a league clash in 2021, which the Canaries won 3-1.
Norwich City Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-L-L-W.
Birmingham City Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-D-L-L.
Norwich City vs Birmingham City Team News
Norwich City
Full-backs Max Aarons and Dimitrios Giannoulis came off injured last time out and are doubtful for this one. Sam Bryan could also miss out as he works his way back to full fitness.
Injured: None.
Doubtful: Sam Bryan, Max Aarons, Dimitrios Giannoulis.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Birmingham City
Gary Gardner and Harlee Dean are yet to feature for the Blues this season due to injury and are major doubts for this one.
Injured: None,
Doubtful: Gary Gardner, Nico Gordon, Harlee Dean.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Norwich City vs Birmingham City Predicted XIs
Norwich City (4-3-3): Tim Krul; Grant Hanley, Ben Gibson, Andrew Omobamidele, Sam McCallum; Kenny McClean, Jacob Sorensen, Todd Cantwell; Milot Rashica, Teemu Pukki, Josh Sargent.
Birmingham City (3-4-1-2): John Ruddy, Dion Sanderson, Marc Roberts, Auston Trusty; Maxime Colin, Ryan Woods, Jordan James, Przemyslaw Placheta; Juninho Bacuna; Scott Hogan, Troy Deeney.
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Norwich City vs Birmingham City Prediction
Norwich are on a four-game winless run across competitions after winning their previous four. Birmingham, meanwhile, are yet to taste defeat this season and will look to continue their unbeaten run this week. They have, however, struggled for results in this fixture recently and could lose this one.
Prediction: Norwich City 2-1 Birmingham City.
