Ben & Rob's preview - Norwich

N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentor Rob Daly are back with their thoughts on the second of a triple-header of home games in a week, this time, Norwich City in the Premier League on Sunday (2pm).

Join them both on N17 Live with our former defender Sebastien Bassong from 1.15pm tomorrow!

Buzzing!

First up, thoughts on the win against Brentford on Thursday night...

Rob: “That win felt quite rewarding as Spurs haven’t enjoyed games like that this season - quite comfortable league wins over teams they should, on paper, be expecting to beat. The team looked very solid at the back. I thought it was Ben Davies’ best performance in some time, while Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal excelled at both ends of the pitch. Some nice attacking link up with Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura too was encouraging. It was exactly the kind of performance Spurs need to make a habit of.”

Ben: “I’m so happy that game in the second half was fairly plain sailing. You could almost say ‘uneventful’, apart from that wonderful goal we scored. It was perfectly contained in the second half, defensively excellent. Watching from the N17 studio (high up in the West Stand), you can see how good that defensive shape is. The wing-backs are going to have to do so much work, but the team is set up to allow them to do that.”

Canaries

We did the chaps expect from new boss Dean Smith’s side on Sunday?

Ben: “I’ve watched a lot of Norwich and what I like is, under Daniel Farke, they tried to stick with their philosophy. They were going to play the way they played in the Championship and try to play through teams in the Premier League. Then they tried to switch to a different style, tried to be a bit more practical, and I feel lost that identity a little in the process. I feel now, under Dean Smith, they’ll go back to being practical, without any confusion. They’ve made a good start under Smith. I just feel this is a good chance for us at home, fingers crossed!”

Rob: “I’m not sure what to expect given Dean Smith has come in for Daniel Farke in the past month. They are the lowest scorers in the league and have only recently got themselves off the foot of the table. I think they’ll be frustrated not to win up at Newcastle midweek (drew 1-1) considering they played against 10 men for nearly the whole game. Pierre Lees Melou should have scored late to win it. Teemu Pukki got a cracker in that game, and they may well have Todd Cantwell back after a bout of COVID-19. As Smith says himself, they’ve become harder to beat but need to create more. Cantwell, who has played well against Spurs previously, could be the catalyst for that.”

Random question

A tough one this week - Glenn Hoddle, Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen all made their debuts against Norwich. You can select one - who and why?

Ben: “Any question where Mousa Dembele is a possible answer, he has to be the answer. I don’t care what the question is. He’s the player I miss the most. He was unbelievable.”

Rob: “Fans of a certain vintage will be screaming Hoddle, and while I loved watching Eriksen at his peak, I’m going to respect all those Spurs players in recent years who have eulogised about Mousa Dembele and go with him. He was an exceptional midfielder. Strong, skilful, a fine passer - his ability on the ball was ridiculous. I loved the way he dribbled round opposition players. Those who saw him a lot know how good he was."