Spurs on the brink of top four finish should they avoid complacency against relegated Norwich

The final day of the Premier League season is rarely a boring occasion.

Of course, Sergio Agüero’s stoppage-time strike against QPR that won Manchester City the title over rivals Manchester United in 2011/12 is always the moment that springs to mind. But the final day almost always presents drama at the top and bottom of the table.

It looks like this season will be no different. Leeds United and Burnley find themselves level on 35 points, with just goal difference separating the two sides. One of them will be relegated to the Championship by Sunday evening, with Jesse Marsch’s side travelling to Brentford knowing that they’ll need to better the Clarets’ result at home to Newcastle United in order to survive.

Elsewhere, the Premier League title fight will also go down to the final day. Just one point separates leaders Manchester City and Liverpool, meaning that the Reds will need to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield and hope that Aston Villa can avoid defeat against City at the Etihad Stadium. The added twist being that the Villans are currently managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, who’ll be desperate to atone for the events of 2014.

Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to avoid any drama in their match away to already relegated Norwich City.

Spurs have their fate in their own hands. Antonio Conte’s side know that avoiding defeat at Carrow Road will be enough to seal a fourth place finish, pipping arch-rivals Arsenal to the last Champions League spot after the Gunners lost the North London Derby and their following game away at Newcastle United.

On paper, this should be an incredibly easy task. Norwich have won just one game since 21st January, a 2-0 win at home to Burnley back in April. Dean Smith’s side have mustered just five wins all season, losing 25 games and conceding a whopping 79 goals across 37 matches so far this season. Their 4-0 defeat at home to West Ham unfortunately epitomised their season – a severe lack of quality and a clear mentality issue.

Canaries fans have been embarrassed about their club’s efforts both on and off the pitch, and finishing rock bottom of the Premier League for the second time in three seasons may see the situation reach boiling point. However, if they do manage to beat Spurs on the final day, Norwich would climb off bottom if Watford fail to win away at Chelsea.

This would obviously be a dream scenario for Arsenal, who would move back into the top four should they defeat Everton at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners would be playing Champions League football for the first time since 2016/17 if such a situation plays out.

The reality is that this is incredibly unlikely.

The bookies have installed Norwich as 9/1 underdogs going into the match, backed by the fact that they’ve lost every single one of 11 their games against the current top six by an aggregate score of 38-4. This includes a 3-0 defeat away to Spurs back at the start of December.

Arsenal fans and, possibly to a lesser extent, Norwich fans, will be praying that complacency could play a part in Tottenham’s potential demise.

There have long since been questions surrounding Spurs’ mentality. This lead to the term ‘Spursy’, being coined, even being listed in the Urban Dictionary as “to consistently and inevitably fail to live up to expectations. To bottle it.”

In recent years, there has been a genuine argument about Tottenham’s feeble mindset, but their current squad is looking to dispel any lingering doubts. A win against Norwich would take them to 71 points, their highest total since the 2018/19 campaign when they finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the final of the Champions League.

Their improvement this season doesn’t mean that they’ve not been on the wrong end of some humiliating results, however. Spurs finished third in their Europa Conference League group, albeit that they didn’t play their final game, losing to NŠ Mura, Vitesse Arnhem and Stade Rennais. They’ve also suffered defeats against Southampton, Wolves, Burnley and Brighton in the Premier League, while being knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship outfit Middlesbrough.

This is really a case of clutching at metaphorical straws, as the prospect of Norwich beating Spurs at Carrow Road on Sunday is almost unthinkable. Conte has, as many expected he would, turned Tottenham into a much more resilient and ruthless outfit, as was highlighted in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield two weeks ago.

It also can’t be forgotten that their star player, Son Heung-Min, could potentially win the Golden Boot on Sunday afternoon, and the South Korean will see a finale against lowly Norwich as the perfect opportunity to overtake Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who has not scored in over a month and may be rested on the final day in preparation for the Reds’ Champions League final against Real Madrid next weekend.

If complacency does kill Spurs’ season on the final day, it will undoubtedly go down as one of the most humiliating moments in the club’s recent history. They are on the verge of rejoining Europe’s elite, and they couldn’t have asked for an easier game to see them over the line.

While Norwich will play for pride alone, fans will be worried that they’ve not shown nearly enough of it to worry Conte’s men on Sunday. For once, Spurs’ mentality has them in the driving seat for achieving their goal.

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