Norwich v Tottenham: Match Preview, Team News And More….
By Logan Holmes
Emmanuel Adebayor [Photo: Alan Hill]Tottenham visit Carrow Road to play Norwich City this afternoon in the Premier League as they aim to maintain this season’s excellent away record in their pursuit of a top-4 finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Team: Lloris; Naughton, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose; Capoue, Bentaleb, Paulinho; Lennon, Adebayor, Dembele Subs: Friedel, Fryers, Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend, Kane, Soldado
Tottenham again face the challenge presented by a team desperate for points in their battle to avoid relegation. Norwich are currently in 17th position and after yesterday’s results they will be aware that a win against Spurs would lift them up to the relative safety of 14th ahead of West Brom, Palace and Stoke. Spurs need the three points to keep in touch with Liverpool who play Swansea in the early kick-off at Anfield.
Date: Sunday, 23rd February
Kick-off Time: 4.00pm (UK time)
TV: Sky Sports
Tottenham’s League Record at Norwich: (inc. PL)
P 26 W 9 D 7 L 10 For 35 Ag 37
Spurs Record in PL at Carrow Road:
P 6 W 4 D 2 L 0 For 10 Ag 3
Related Article:
Spurs Record against Norwich (to 2011-12) – Read more
Last Season:
The match at the end of January, 2013 ended in a 1 – 1 draw with Gareth Bale’s late solo effort rescuing a point for Tottenham. After a disappointing first half which Norwich dominated with their work-rate and commitment to take the lead through Hoolahan, Spurs improved in the second half. Their increasing pressure on the home defence brought a deserved equaliser with ten minutes to play. Spurs pressed on in search of a winner in the final minutes with goalkeeper Bunn making a crucial save from substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Norwich City
Norwich have had a disappointing season which has seen Chris Hughton’s position as manager come under increasing pressure in recent weeks. In their first meeting in September at White Hart Lane, Spurs had a comfortable 2 – 0 win with Christian Eriksen making an impressive debut as Sigurdsson scored twice to secure the points. That afternoon the Norwich team lacked the drive and organisation usually associated with Hughton’s teams, especially when facing Spurs.
At home, Norwich have lost on only 4 occasions with 4 wins and 5 draws. It has been away from Carrow Road that they have struggled this season. In their last home match they earned a scoreless draw against Manchester City – an impressive performance considering they conceded 7 goals at City earlier in the season. Norwich are undefeated at Carrow Road in 2014, since losing their final two home games of 2013 – a single goal defeat by Manchester United and a 1 – 2 defeat by Fulham.
The home results in January include a scoreless draw with Newcastle and a 1 – 0 win over Norwich. A lack of goals has been a major problem for Norwich this season. They have only scored a total of 19 goals in their 26 Premier League matches with 11 goals at home. They have, however, only conceded 11 goals at Carrow Road in 13 games.
Norwich started the season in impressive form at home, drawing 2 – 2 with Everton and defeating Southampton 1 – 0. They then lost to Aston Villa by the only goal of the game and Chelsea defeated them 3 – 1. A scoreless draw with Cardiff was followed by wins over West Ham (3 – 1) and Palace (1 – 0). In December Norwich also drew at home with Swansea (1 – 1).
Norwich’s leading goalscorer in all competitions in Gary Hooper with 7 goals, Leroy Fer has 4 and Robert Snodgras has 3.
Last weekend they conceded two goals in the last five minutes to lose to West Ham at Upton Park.
Team News
Tottenham will he hoping for no ill-effects from their their match in Ukraine – from the travelling or playing on the heavy pitch. Those players who didn’t make the journey for the Europa League match should be available to return although Emmanuel Adebayor is reported to have a leg injury but is expected to play. Only Sandro, Erik Lamela and Vlad Chiriches are unavailable as they recover from longer term injuries.
Tim Sherwood made a comment prior to the Europa League defeat against Dnipro that he would prefer to win that competition rather than have a top-4 finish. A defeat today would not be appreciated by fans and while I understand his comment with regard winning a trophy, to compete in the Champions League is crucial for the further development of Tottenham as a club financially and with regards the retention and signing of top class players.
Norwich are unsure of the availability of Jonny Howson who has had a back injury but Ryan Bennett and Jonas Gutierrez are expected to be missing along with Michael Turner and Elliott Bennett.
Every game is crucial for Tottenham as there is no let up in the consistency of the four teams above them in the league. Everton and Manchester are 5 points behind Spurs and a with big games in March, Tottenham need every point they can get now in their pursuit of Liverpool.
The form of Emmanuel Adebayor and Hugo Lloris will again be vital for Spurs as currently they are at the centre of all that is good about the team. Defensively, Spurs have been uncertain but Lloris has pulled off outstanding saves in recent game while going forward both creatively and in scoring goals, Adebayor has played an important part in the team’s success.
A win is required by Spurs, any other result will be a disappointment but unfortunately there’s absolutely no guarantee that Tottenham will get the result that most people would expect them to achieve against a team near the foot of the Premier League.