Norwich City are sitting in ninth place in the table after having a great season up until now, but manager Paul Lambert will not be taking things for granted as his side's 21 points have been well earned and it may be that they need that many points again to stay up.

Lambert is a shrewd manager, who has a lot of experience having won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund as a player and played at a high level.  Using the resources he has available to him, he has got the best out of them and the players he has brought in have fitted into the team pattern very well.  His tactics have produced some difficult games for the sides in the top half with the latest being a 4-2 win over Newcastle United. 

Centred around a hard working middle four, his tow men up front work hard chasing back and giving opposition centre-halves a tough time.  Steve Morison was a late entrant into the Football League having started with Oxford United, but being released into non-league, where he built his goal-scoring reputation with Stevenage.  Picked up by Millwall, he has gone on to play international football with Wales and top flight football with Norwich.  A strong player on the ball and in the air, he is matched in those qualities by his main striking partner Grant Holt.  But both men have a touch of finesse about them when required, as all good goal-scorers possess.  Personally, I didn't think either would make a big impression in the Premier League, with Holt playing football at Shrewsbury Town in League Two but a few years back.  However, Lambert has played a system where they thrive.

And that involves getting the ball up to them quickly and into them from the flanks.  Anthony Pilkington, picked up from Huddersfield Town, is a flying winger, who also scored a few goals.  His crosses supply the front two with the opportunity to win the ball in the air.  But it is his midfield partners in Wes Hoolihan and Andrew Surman who work hard in the middle to stop the other side getting through.  Surman had Premiership experience with Southampton and Hoolihan played with Blackpool until just before they were promoted.  Surman has a lovely passing ability and Hoolihan can use his energy to get up and support the front two and get back too. 

One player who had been a regular was former Leeds man Bradley Johnson, who has been used from the bench in recent games, but he has been around and is a tenacious midfielder, who enjoys a tackle and has a powerful shot on him, given the opportunity to use it.  Similarly, Andrew Crofts can provide a dogged midfield presence and the former Gillingham and Brighton man can operate wide if required.  Other midfielders available are David Fox and Elliot Bennett, who came in from Colchester United (following his manager) and Brighton respectively.  Fox prefers to play centrally and has the ability to pick out a good pass, while Bennett is another flying winger, who had picked up the pace of premier League football very quickly. 

The defence will have to be reshuffled to a certain extent, because of absences.   Elliot Ward is out with a bad knee; on loan from Spurs, Kyle Naughton got his fifth yellow card to serve his suspension in this game, which he wouldn't be allowed to play in anyway, against his parent club;  Richie De Laet is on loan from Manchester United, but injured his back against QPR recently and might not make the game and Daniel Ayala was signed from Liverpool, but is out with a knee injury.   This limits their defensive options somewhat, with left back Marc Tierney, central defenders Leon Barnett and Zak Whitbread likely to be joined by right back Russell Martin in the Canaries back four. 

Barnett has been a little rash in his tackling sometimes and can be turned as he is not the most mobile of defenders, leaving him vulnerable to players who are quick footed, but the covering of Russell Martin often gets his team-mates out of trouble, as he is becoming a master of the goal-line clearance in games this season.  A good defender, it will be interesting to see how he faces up to Gareth Bale, where other, more experienced defenders have failed.  Whitbread has been around for a while, having been with Liverpool and Millwall, but he is another who has stepped up his game, although he might have a tough time coping with Adebayor's movement.

Tierney is a quick full back who also was brought to Carrow Road by Lambert and has settled into the top flight well.  Without Aaron Lennon's pace, he might be faced more by opposition defender Kyle Walker bombing forward.  Again, this will be an interesting match up of opponents.  Reaching the veteran stage left back Adam Drury has been with the club for ten years now and can still do a job, but he is not as quick as when he played for Peterborough United back in the day.

Keeper John Ruddy has had some inspired games, but he has made mistakes and with the amount of chances Tottenham create, you feel he might be in for a busy evening.  Starting with Cambridge United and formerly with Everton, the goalie didn't really get his opportunity there and moved out on loan regularly before moving to Norfolk.  Tall, he is capable on crosses, but his positioning and handling are both areas where there are doubts in my mind.

Norwich have done well taking points off the teams around them, while also nicking the odd point off teams above them.  Lambert will no doubt sacrifice some of their attacking intent against Spurs to try and stifle our own forward movement.  But they will look to use the pace of Pilkington on the break and the physical presence of the front two at set pieces, so Tottenham will need to be strong in defence, where Kaboul may return as Ledley takes a break.

Good at home, I predict that it will be a tight one and Spurs will just squeak it.

TV
Sky Sports 1 - (live coverage)
For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio (London area only) &  Sky Channel 0152  (live coverage)
Commentary may be found on
>   BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage)  606/939 MW
>  TalkSport (DAB or 1089 MW)
>  Absolute Radio  (1215 AM/MW)

If available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne) SEN  -  116 AM  Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500 matches
Australia (Sydney)  Radio 2  -  1611AM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore Media Corp Radio  -  93.8 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa  SABC (Radio 2000)  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda  Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan) 87.9 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)  Sirius Satellite Radio  Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times (BBC)

Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk   Live webcast  - subscribers only
BBC London - http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml click on link to "Listen to Tottenham Hotspur live commentary" on top right hand menu.

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