Our match preview has an overview of this fixture’s history, an insight into the Villains and a look at who will be the man in the middle.

The opposition

Aston Villa have had a mixed bag of results so far this season and are currently seeing a slight dip in their performances.

Sitting 18^th after four wins, three draws and eleven losses this season, Dean Smith’s side may feel hard done by in their results. After all, they do carry the the highest goal tally in the bottom half of the table and the joint 3rd highest outside of the top four with 24 goals to their name.

It's been at the other end where Villa have struggled. They've conceded 33 goals this season, the second-worst defensive record in the league.

Aston Villa haven’t seen a win in five games and will be without key player John McGinn who suffered a fractured ankle in the defeat to Southampton on Saturday.

Aston Villa’s stand-out man this season is Jack Grealish. The 24-year-old boyhood Villa skipper has come into form recently, scoring five goals and assisting four in his 16 league appearances.

Head-to-head

The Canaries have already met fellow newly-promoted Villa at Carrow Road this season, a game which saw the Villains take all three points after a 5-1 win over City.

The two sides last met at Villa Park in May 2019 and it was a memorable one for the Canaries - they sealed the Championship title on the final day of the season with a 2-1 victory, Teemu Pukki and Mario Vrancic with the goals.

Teemu Pukki goal Villa A.jpg

Ref watch

Chris Kavanagh (pictured) will be the man in the middle for Saturday afternoon’s fixture. Kavanagh has overseen 12 Premier League games and one Championship game so far this season, handing out 40 yellow cards across those matches.

He was last appointed to officiate a Norwich game in September 2016 for a Championship game away to Nottingham Forest. City won 2-1 thanks to goals from Jonny Howson and Graham Dorrans. Kavanagh showed three yellow cards in the match.

Chris Kavanagh.png

For this weekend’s fixture, his assistants will be Sian Massey-Ellis and Adam Nunn, with Matt Donohue the fourth official. Lee Mason and Matthew Wilkes will be overseeing VAR.

Info for supporters

For a visiting supporter guide, CLICK HERE.

City will be wearing black armbands for the fixture in memory of the late Martin Peters, who passed away on Saturday.

How to follow

Supporters can watch the match for FREE on Amazon Prime Video by signing up for a trial. To do so, CLICK HERE.

Canaries TV subscribers can listen to live BBC Radio Norfolk commentary from Chris Goreham by purchasing a match/monthly/yearly pass. For more info, click HERE.

We will be running regular updates on our Twitter account, including reaction after the final whistle.

There will also be a minute-by-minute live match blog on canaries.co.uk and you can also receive updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

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