The duel between two sides at the opposite end of the Championship's form table produced a predictable outcome as Norwich comfortably saw off Preston 2-0.
The Canaries had won eight of their previous 10 league games ahead of the Carrow Road encounter while the visitors had recorded just one victory in 12 in all competitions.
And a low-key encounter went very much according to expectations, with first-half goals from Ali Ahmed and Kenny McLean - the latter with a superbly struck free-kick - settling the issue with the minimum of fuss.
Preston had a decent chance to open the scoring after just six minutes when Daniel Jebbison lobbed Vladan Kovacevic after beating Harry Darling to a high ball, but his effort was narrowly off target.
From that moment onwards it was all Norwich and while they struggled to create clear-out opportunities, it always looked as though a home goal was on the way.
It finally arrived in the 17th minute when Daniel Iversen palmed Matthias Kvistgaarden's shot into a dangerous area and Ahmed was on hand to bury the loose ball.
The lead was doubled on 39 minutes after the Canaries won a soft free-kick some 10 yards outside the box, in a central area. Skipper McLean took command and curled a delightful shot over the wall and into the top corner of the net to leave Iversen clutching at thin air.
Norwich almost made it three just before the break as a poor punch punch from Iversen was hooked back towards goal by Liam Gibbs and came back off the crossbar. Even then it looked a goal all the way as Anis Ben Slimane got his head to the rebound but Jordan Storey was on hand to make a last-ditch block.
Norwich lost left-back Ben Chrisene to injury early in the second half, which seemed to disrupt the rhythm of the match, and the next attempt on goal did not arrive until the 70th minute, with Preston defender Liam Lindsay heading off target from a good position.
Substitute Brad Potts somehow missed from close range as the visitors continued to seek a way back into the game, but Norwich generally looked comfortable as they saw out a fourth straight league win.
Norwich's Philippe Clement:
"To have got where we are today is a remarkable achievement from all the squad. We had nine points after 15 games and in the next 22 we have taken 42 points - that's an amazing number.
"As I have said many times, it is my ambition to win every game and I want that same mentality from the players.
"I thought it was a good first half from us - we scored two good goals and played some good football against aggressive opponents.
"In the second half Preston came at us and it got a bit scrappy and I think the referee could have produced some yellow cards a bit earlier.
"But you can't play sexy football all the time. Sometimes you need to find the solution to win a match, to fight for the result.
"So it was good to get through the second half with a clean sheet and come away with the three points."
Preston's Paul Heckingbottom:
"It's another tough one to take. We had a big chance after six minutes and if that had gone in I think it would have been a different game.
"Then a lapse of concentration for their first goal and a referee's decision for the second have proved very costly for us.
"To be honest I don't know what constitutes a foul now because Jordan (Thompson) has won a header between two Norwich players, who have both gone down, and the referee awards a free-kick.
"We then responded in the right way and I enjoyed watching the way we played in the second half. But we couldn't take one of our chances to make it more difficult for Norwich and that was disappointing.
"I am pleased with the attitude of the players - no-one took a backward step today. At the moment things aren't going for us but no-one is feeling sorry for themselves."
