Ranieri and Smith try to shrug off the pressure ahead of survival showdown

How big is the Friday night fixture between Watford and Norwich? “It’s very big,” says Claudio Ranieri. “We all know how important it is,” says Dean Smith. The two managers are “fighting” against adversity (Smith) and will “crash” into each other in the quest for three points (Ranieri). In the end, however, “the Premier League doesn’t stop”, as Ranieri puts it, or at least not until “the most important part … after 38 games”, in the words of Smith. So maybe it’s not that important after all.

Smith and Ranieri were brought into their clubs mid-season to help reverse downward trends, but are still in the relegation mix. It’s a mix made all the muddier by 22 Covid-induced postponements which mean last-placed Burnley have played four games fewer than Norwich and two fewer than Watford, who are 17th but could fall into the bottom three should they lose to the Canaries at Vicarage Road.

If anyone truly knows what’s going on in the Premier League basement then nobody’s admitting to it, and Smith’s and Ranieri’s pre-match press conferences were classic examples of saying just enough to not reveal much at all. But after Watford’s visit to Newcastle last weekend, which ended with Ranieri’s side earning a late deserved point, this fixture will provide more evidence as to how the leading candidates for the drop are placed as we enter the business end of the season.

Norwich are everyone’s favourites for a second return to the Championship in three years, partly because that’s the natural order of things, but also due to some woefully weak performances. But since Smith took charge in mid-November there’s been a series of stronger showings too, the latest coming last weekend in a 2-1 victory against Everton.

“It certainly lifted the