The in-form away team in the Premier League arrives at Carrow Road on Sunday, with Tim Sherwood hoping to get fifth away win since being appointed as Tottenham Hotspur manager in mid December.
Team News
Jonas Gutierrez, Ryan Bennett, Johnny Howson and Michael Turner look set to miss the game.
Erik Lamela and Vlad Chiriches remain on the sidelines. Sandro and Younes Kaboul could be reintroduced to the Spurs side.
Key Statistics
Norwich City have kept a clean sheet in their last three Premier League home games.
Spurs have won four and lost none of their six Premier League trips to Carrow Road.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Johan Elmander have produced just one goal and six shots on target between them this season, despite playing a combined total of 1961 minutes in the Premier League.
Only Chelsea (24) have a better amount of points than Spurs (23) since Tim Sherwood took charge of his first Premier League game on December 22nd 2013.
Key Players:
Leroy Fer and Mousa Dembélé
The battle at Carrow Road will be between these two midfielders, who are integral to their sides fortunes when on top form. Leroy Fer has been one of the signings of the season, contributing three goals and one assist for the Canaries, with his performances commanding high praise in a poor Norwich City campaign in the Premier League.
Mousa Dembélé, however, hasn’t been very productive in the goals department, scoring just once and with just one assist, Dembélé, with all the talent he has, finds it difficult to impose his talent in games in a decisive fashion. His lack of vision is clear, with just 22% of his passes played forward – compared to his 33% passing to his left and 30% of his passing to his right.
Although, his stats suggest otherwise. One of his biggest traits is his ability to dribble past his opposition with ease, which is complemented by his 75 total dribbles, of which he has completed 63. While he has only assisted one goal, Dembélé has fashioned 27 chances for his team-mates, three better than his opponent Leroy Fer (24). The Spurs midfielder has created three clear-cut chances, two better than Leroy Fer.
Creativity isn’t Leroy Fer’s selling point, though. His defensive work has been excellent at times this season, racking up 31 interceptions and a 76% tackle success rate, winning 46% of his total ground 50-50s and aerial 50-50s.
Dembélé’s has also been very competent in his defensive work, averaging 26 minutes per tackle, compared to Leroy Fer’s 30 mpt. The Belgian international’s tackle success rate is improving, winning 88% of his tackles this season. His interceptions (18) isn’t quite at Leroy Fer’s level, which could be argued as not having a brain clever enough to read the game. His upper body strength and pace has meant he has only been dribbled past five times this season, compared to Leroy Fer’s 40.
Mousa Dembélé needs to impose himself on the midfield on Sunday and in the rest of Spurs’ Premier League games, if Spurs are to have any chance of breaking into the top four.
