Norwich City’s Boxing Day trip to White Hart Lane is sure to be a tough test. It’s over three and a half years since City last won a Premier League game in London. Funnily enough that was a 1-2 success over Tottenham in April 2012. Since then, City have played fifteen Premier League games in London and drawn 6, losing the other 9. It’s not a great record, let’s be honest but coming on the back of a terrific win at Old Trafford and a creditable draw with Everton, confidence ought to be high in the Canary camp.
Spurs have only lost twice all season and will provide a stern test.
Vital Quotes:
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino:
‘Can we win the title? In football, all is possible.
‘The last 10 games are very important and it’s how you arrive there to attack different objectives or achieve important things.
‘It’s important how we arrive in the last 10 games.’
Norwich manager Alex Neil:
‘I think it’s important we seemed to have turned the corner a bit.
‘I think performances have always been stable but it’s about winning points.
‘We have shown more than enough now against the bigger teams to show others we can win in this league.’
Tottenham Team News:
Ryan Mason is available again and the only absentees through injury are Clinton N’Jie and Alex Pritchard. Andros Townsend is still out of favour after falling out with the Spurs fitness coach.
Player to watch: Harry Kane
Harry Kane had a stellar season last year and is doing well enough this season too. He is the focal point of the Spurs attack and if we can keep him quiet then we’ll have a chance. Make no mistake though, the former City loan player will ask a lot more questions of the Norwich defence than Wayne Rooney did last week.
Norwich City Team News:
Matt Jarvis is back in training but not ready to return yet.
Andre Wisdom will face a late fitness test after his recent hamstring strain – other than that, Alex Neil has a fit squad to choose from.
Player to watch: Nathan Redmond
The inconsistent Redmond was instrumental in the counter attacking prowess that City displayed against Manchester United. He can be frustrating as he’s either brilliant or invisible. I’m hoping that this time out he can be just as influential on the counter – we’ll need him to be on top form.
Match Facts & Stats
Tottenham have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League matches (W7, D8).
They have only conceded 14 goals, the joint-fewest in the division with Arsenal and Manchester United.
Tottenham have dropped 11 points from winning positions; only Newcastle, with 12, have fared worse.
Harry Kane has scored eight goals in his last eight league matches.
He has scored 25 league goals in 2015, just one goal behind Teddy Sheringham’s Tottenham record for Premier League goals in a calendar year.
Norwich have played the most Premier League matches on Boxing Day without ever winning (D1, L4).
Only Sunderland (24) have conceded more away goals than the 19 that Norwich have let in.
Their only victory against a top-half side this season came at Manchester United last weekend (W1, D4, L4).
Match Prediction:
This is a tough game on the face of it but having said that, so was last week’s trip to Old Trafford. The season won’t be judged as a success by wins against teams in the top four (although they certainly help) but against those teams around us. With that in mind, the visit of Aston Villa on Monday is massively important. Alex Neil will want to show that last week wasn’t just a fluke but he will have one eye on Villa and I expect the personnel to change accordingly.
After last week, I’m thinking that anything is possible, even though Spurs will provide a much sterner test than United did. Still, keep Harry Kane quiet and you never know.
Next Fixtures:
Aston Villa – Monday 28/12/15
