Norwich are having an extraordinary season so far and go into the new year second in the table to Leeds.
The Canaries have powered into the automatic promotion places thanks to an amazing run of late goals that have earned them 20 points in eight games.
City’s late shows have picked up points against:
Birmingham (A) Drew 2-2 with 94th-minute equaliser
Preston (H) Won 2-0 with goals in the 80th and 87th minutes
Wigan (H) Won 1-0 with 86th-minute goal
Nottingham Forest (A) Won 2-1 from 1-0 down with 84th-minute goal
Millwall (H) Won 4-3 from 3-2 down in the 83rd minute with 92nd and 97th-minute strikes
Bolton (H) Won 3-2 thanks to 93rd-minute winner
Blackburn (A) Won 1-0 with 86th-minute goal
Nottingham Forest (H) Drew 3-3 from 3-0 down with their final two goals in the 94th and 98th minutes
However, it has also worked against them as their final goal in a 4-3 defeat by West Brom in August came in the 83rd minute and then on Saturday, they were involved in another seven-goal thriller – this time against Derby.
Having taken a 3-2 lead in the 81st minute, there was then a floodlight failure at Carrow Road. After a 25-minute break, the match resumed and ex-Bee Florian Jozefzoon equalised for the Rams in the 87th minute before Jack Marriott hit their winner two minutes into stoppage-time.
That defeat by Derby was Norwich’s first defeat in 13 Championship games since a 1-0 loss to Stoke before the October international break, which dropped the Canaries to eighth in the table.
Since then, though, they have won nine (including the 1-0 defeat of us) and drawn three of their matches, before meeting Derby, to give themselves a great chance of ending their three-season absence from the Premier League.
WHO’S IN CHARGE
Daniel Farke was appointed as Alex Neil’s successor at Carrow Road at the end of May 2017.
Farke took over as Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team coach in 2015 – replacing David Wagner after he left to go to Huddersfield.
Stuart Webber, now the Canaries’ sporting director, was with the Terriers at the time that Wagner joined the club.
Farke, who spent his playing career in Germany’s lower divisions, is Norwich’s first foreign manager.
WE’VE MET BEFORE
Brentford’s record against Norwich in the Championship is poor, with one win and four defeats in our seven meetings.
There were two away wins in 2014/15 – our first meetings in league action for five seasons – as a goal from Alexander Tettey and a Cameron Jerome double gave the Canaries a 3-0 win at Griffin Park, before Jota and an Alex Pritchard penalty, either side of Nathan Redmond’s equaliser, gave us a revenge 2-1 triumph in Norfolk.
After a season in the Premier League, Norwich returned to our fixture list in 2016/17 and we failed to score against them in our two meetings.
We were on the wrong end of a 5-0 hiding at Carrow Road, with Jacob Murphy, Graham Dorrans, Robbie Brady, Nelson Oliveira and Alex Pritchard on target, before holding them to a 0-0 draw in the return.
We met three times last season, with the Canaries drawing first blood in a 3-1 third round Carabao Cup win at Griffin Park, with a Mario Vrancic double (one a penalty) and Josh Murphy strike making Josh Clarke’s late reply a mere consolation. The most notable event of the tie for the Bees was Chris Mepham making his full senior debut for the club.
We beat them for the first time in four meetings in the Championship just before Christmas with our 2-1 Friday night win at Carrow Road.
Lasse Vibe’s first half double set up the victory, with Nelson Oliveira replying in second half stoppage time.
A worldie from James Maddison in the fifth minute at Griffin Park continued the run of away wins in meetings between the two sides as it secured a 1-0 success for City.
OPPOSITION VIEW
BBC Radio Norfolk sports editor and commentator Chris Goreham tells us what pre-season expectations were for Norwich, what key factor has made the difference this season and explains what makes the Canaries so enjoyable to watch at the moment.
IAN WESTBROOK
@ianwestbrook
PUBS IN BRENTFORD AND TRAVEL NEWS
For Norwich fans coming to the game, you are probably aware there plenty of pub options pre-match and all are most welcoming and away-fan-friendly (as it should be).
As you are probably well aware, Brentford is well known for its four pubs – one on each corner of the ground.
The Griffin is closest to the away end (like 30 secs walk) and is very popular with away fans – but also very, very busy. The New Inn is on the other side and is also popular with away fans. The Princess Royal and the Royal Oak are the other options.
Other pubs slightly further afield for the more creative amongst you include (and this is by no means a definitive list) …. The Globe (Windmill Rd) & The Lord Nelson (Enfield Rd) are both incredibly friendly and cosy away-friendly pubs and about 1 min walk from each other …. frequented by ‘away fans in the know’.
The Plough (Northfields Ave) in Northfields is a decent stop-off if you are coming by tube to Northfields. The ‘Northfields run’ makes a much better pub crawl route than South Ealing – getting off at Northfields station, turning left and stopping off at The Plough (2 min walk), The Lord Nelson (10 min walk from The Plough) & The Globe (1 min walk from The Nelson) en-route before ending up at The Griffin (8 min walk from The Globe) by the away turnstiles.
There’s also a relatively new tiny microbrewery pub in Northfields called The Owl and The Pussycat (Northfields Ave)– right turn out of the station away from the ground as opposed to left.
And another new pub worth checking out is The Black Dog Beer House, formerly The Albany, on Albany Road.
There is a pub right by Brentford mainline station referred to as … the Pub by Brentford station.
For real ale head to the Magpie and Crown pub on Brentford High Street. The Royal Horseguardsman (Ealing Road) can probably hold 15 of you at a push.
The Brewery Tap (Catherine Wheel Road) is a cosy boozer by the river. And if you are super-adventurous, get off at Kew Bridge and visit One Over the Ait (Kew Bridge Road) – a spacious boozer right next to Kew Bridge, and across from the site of the Bees’ new stadium at Lionel Road, with a deck overlooking the river – and The Express Tavern (Kew Bridge Road) – an ale pub with a retro feel. There are a load more pubs in the river in Kew if that takes your fancy.
A quick Google search and you’ll find them all. There are many, many more too if you have a look around.
Parking near the stadium is a no no but is pretty easy in the streets north of Griffin Park on the other side of the A4 Great West Rd via Ealing Road or Windmill Road. Make sure you look our for the parking signs which change from area to area.
Getting to Brentford from town – many fans get the tube to Waterloo (Northern, Jubilee lines) or Vauxhall (Victoria Line) then take the Overground train to Brentford.
On New Year’s Day, there is one train an hour from Waterloo at ten to the hour and two trains back into town at 12 and 42 minutes past.
By tube, it’s 35 minutes to South Ealing or Northfields stations from King’s Cross or Euston (less from Paddington) and then 15 minutes walk to Griffin Park from there (4 mins on the bus) – more if you take the Northfields to Brentford
You can check out Transport for London’s guide to travel on the Tube and Overground.
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