English Premier
2011-12-27 - Norwich City vs Tottenham Hotspur
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 27 December 2011 - Kick Off 7:30pm
This game is live on TV
Norwich City
With each passing week, Norwich City look more and more like a side that can upset the odds and survive in the Premier League under the guidance of their astute manager Paul Lambert. Back to back promotions from League One through the Championship had people wondering if it would be a step too far for the Canaries in the Premier League, but it has not been the case so far.
Results on Boxing Day mean Norwich have dropped to 11th in the Premier League, but they remain 7 points clear of the relegation zone as the bottom three clubs all failed to win. They have a 4-2-2 record at Carrow Road this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding 12, making them one of the higher scoring teams at home in the League so far.
Norwich come into this game on a 3 match unbeaten run, although they have drawn their last 2 games after conceding late equalisers. The team have won their last 2 games in front of their own fans since being beaten by Arsenal and they have actually won 4 of their last 6 League games here.
Ritchie De Laet looks set to miss this game through injury, while Kyle Naughton is ineligible as Tottenham are his parent club.
Tottenham Hotspur
If Norwich City would have been satisfied with the Premier League results on Boxing Day, Tottenham Hotspur will surely feel they have a real chance of giving themselves a little gap to sides challenging for a Champions League spot next season. However, the will need to keep winning to somehow close the gap to the top 2 clubs who have looked very good so far.
Tottenham saw Chelsea and Liverpool both fail to win home games on Monday and that leaves Tottenham in 3rd place and with a couple of games in hand over some of their rivals. They are now 10 points behind the two Manchester clubs, although they do have a chance to reduce that to 4 points if they can win their games in hand. Spurs are 5-1-2 away from home this season, scoring 15 goals and conceding 11, and only Manchester United have won more games on their travels.
The team had been in a great run of form in recent weeks, but may have hit a little bit of a buffer as they have only gained 4 points from their last 9 available in the League. Spurs were really unfortunate in losing their last away game in the League at Stoke City, but they had won 5 of their previous 6 before that since losing at Manchester United in their first game of the season.
Younes Kaboul should be available for this fixture, although Ledley King is a doubt. Aaron Lennon is definitely ruled out, while Jermain Defoe and Rafael Van der Vaart will need late fitness tests. It is expected that Van der Vaart will start, while Defoe is much more doubtful to be in the squad.
Head to Head
Tottenham have won on their last 4 visits to Carrow Road, scoring 2 goals in each of those games and only conceding 1.
However, this will be their first meeting since the 2004/05 season.
Prediction
This is a tough place to come and earn a victory, but I think Tottenham will follow in the footsteps of local rivals Arsenal and pick up the 3 points.
The Spurs team has a lot of pace in it, even in the absence of Aaron Lennon, while Emmanuel Adebayor has given them a genuine threat up front to finish up all the good work created by the likes of Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Rafael Van der Vaart.
Norwich have been playing well, and they are bound to give Spurs some problems in the game, but their lack of clean sheets is going to be tough to overcome especially against a side that can create as much as Tottenham can.
Look for Tottenham to earn a very important 3 points here.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Norwich City 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Tottenham Hotspur -0.75 Asian Handicap @ 2.05 (Stan James)
