With the Premier League taking a break for the F.A. Cup fifth round this weekend, our football coverage this issue looks to the Championship, where a number of key battles will be unfolding at both ends of the table.

First up is Wolverhampton Wanderers’ trip to Norwich, as two teams very much in the play-off picture lock horns at Carrow Road knowing full well that a win will allow them to take maximum advantage of any potential slip-ups from that small group above them.

Of the two sides, it is Wolves who are in slightly better form – having strung together an eight-game unbeaten run prior to the disappointing 2-1 defeat to Reading last weekend – but that hasn’t stopped the bookmakers from pricing Norwich up as favourites at 4/5 with the visitors out at 7/2.

The reason for this is probably a combination of the Canaries’ strong home form (Norwich have lost just three times at Carrow Road all season) and Wolves’ worrying lack of goals, the latter of which is a factor that has undermined their promotion charge and – prior to their game with Huddersfield – saw them as the highest ranked team in the top four divisions to still have a negative goal difference.

Although the two sides have contested a number of thrillers over the years – indeed, in the 2008/2009 Championship season, Norwich romped to a 5-2 win at home before drawing 3-3 at Molineux – another goal-fest looks unlikely this time out and you can get a decent-looking 21/20 on there being under 2.5 goals, while over 2.5 goals is currently priced at slightly shorter odds of 5/6 on.

Given Wolves’ struggles in front of goal this season and the superior odds on offer, it is obviously the former of those bets that holds the most appeal, though this should be off-set by the fact that Norwich have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 13 games against Wolves and are 13/8 outsiders to do so here. Similarly, you can currently get 4/5 on both teams to score in the match, with a 1-1 draw the bookies’ favoured result at 6/1 and 2-1 to Norwich only slightly behind at 8/1.

With new Canaries boss Alex Neil presiding over four wins, one loss and a draw in his time at the helm so far, it looks likely that the home side will have a little too much for the visitors in this one and backing them to grab an elusive clean sheet versus Wolves in a win to nil at 5/2 looks a good way to eke out some value, as does opting for a 1-0 win at 7/1 if you feel like taking a bigger risk.