Premier League: Can Canaries wreck Spurs’ Top Four Dreams?

Norwich City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Short answer?

I very much doubt it!

But stranger things have happened in football and particularly on the last day of a campaign; but if this fixture, Premier League: Norwich City vs Spurs, ends Tottenham’s Champions League hopes then the shock waves will be felt throughout North London and beyond.

There are fascinating battles at the top of the Premier League, where the race between Manchester City and Liverpool has gone down to the last weekend, and also at the bottom of the table where one of either Leeds United or Burnley will join Watford and Norwich in the Championship.

But the fight for fourth place has as much intrigue as any, not least because it’s a shootout between rivals Tottenham and Arsenal, who were in full control until recently. 

The Gunners will probably beat Everton who confirmed their survival in midweek but, with their superior goal difference Antonio Conte’s Spurs will secure a place in the Champions League with a point at Carrow Road.

Talking Points

Son’s push for the Golden Boot

Tottenham’s rise up the table has coincided with a stunning return to form of Harry Kane but Heung Min Son, with 21 goals, has been consistent throughout the campaign and he is just one goal behind leading scorer Mo Salah in the race for the Golden Boot. Liverpool face Wolves on the final day and they have a much tighter defence than Norwich, so a goal or two might well give the South Korean the prize.

He scored in Spurs’ recent draw with Liverpool and then in a crucial win over Arsenal, and the recognition as one of the league’s best strikers is fully deserved for the man who has formed such a lethal partnership with Kane over the past seven seasons. It’s something of a mystery that the club has failed to win any silverware in that time.    

Alongside Son and Kane, Dejan Kulusevski has made a big impact since his arrival from Juventus in January, and he has weighed in with a crucial eight assists in Spurs’ top four charge. Conte’s team put in a brilliant performance to draw away to Liverpool, and then they won the North London Derby 3-0 before edging past Burnley last week.

One more step and Tottenham are in the Champions League.   

Smith is not interested in the top four race

The Norwich City vs Spurs betting odds don’t give the Canaries much hope, but they will do what they can to upset Tottenham’s Champions League push for their own reasons.

There is an element of pride at the Norfolk club. With 22 points they are rock bottom of the table but the Canaries are only one point behind Watford who play away at Chelsea on Sunday. A hoe win, however unlikely, would probably lift Dean Smith’s team up a place. And the Norwich boss is fully focussed on his own team amidst all the noise surrounding the top four race. He said: “I have had texts off Arsenal fans and I have had texts off Tottenham fans, but I have no allegiance to either so there is no extra motivation at all.

“That doesn’t affect us at all. It is a game of football.”   

They have suffered a punishing campaign and a 1-1 draw away to Wolves last week ended a run of five consecutive losses for the Canaries. During that run they were consigned to the Championship once again. 

Only Teemu Pukki has looked at home in the top flight and the Finn he has done well again, registering 11 strikes, while fellow forward Josh Sargent has struggled to two goals as the only other player with more than one. Smith is woefully short of quality in his squad and his plight isn’t eased by the injuries to centre back Ben Gibson and on loan midfielder Billy Gilmour.   

History

Tottenham haven’t had it all their own way in the head-to-head Norwich City vs Spurs resultsover the past three decades, winning 12 to the Canaries’ five and there have been four draws.   

But Spurs have won four of the last five Premier League meetings and three of those by a 3-0 margin.

With three wins, two draws and a loss in the last six games, the visitors are in much better form than their hosts and they should ease to three more points on Sunday.   

Betting Tip

You can’t tempt me at SBOTOP odds of 12.04 on a Norwich win or even 5.61 on a draw, and I’m looking for a bigger return than the 1.21 available on a Spurs win. I expect Son and Kane to tear the poor Canaries apart and would not be surprised by yet another 3-0 Spurs win at a price of 7.33.

 

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