Pre-Season Friendly Betting: Norwich v Tottenham

Premier League / Nik Wardle / 27 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

Will Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane make an apperance at Carrow Road? The friendly matches are starting to come thick and fast.

Fans of Spurs were hoping they'd be able to spend the summer rubbing their hands at the prospect of seeing the likes of Giovanni Dos Santos, Huerelho Gomes and Luka Modric at White Hart Lane next season. Instead, the warmer months have been dominated by the club bemoaning Man United's and Liverpool's courtship of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane respectively and Simon Jordan's discontent at Spurs for mugging Crystal Palace of John Bostock. Life is never dull in N17.

After a training camp and a few leg-looseners in Spain, Spurs' pre-season starts in earnest at Carrow Road against Norwich, live on Setanta Sports. Fans of Spurs, Man United and Liverpool will be interested to see if Keane and Berbatov are involved. If you believe certain press reports, Keane will be signing for Liverpool within the next few days. I think his loss will be the biggest punch to the stomach for Spurs. Berbatov's agent has long courted his man for a move to a bigger club - after all, how do agents make money unless their players switch clubs? The Bulgarian is a gifted player - much in the fluid mould of Denis Bergkamp. Like the Dutchman, however, there are games when he just doesn't seem to fancy it. If you do believe Berbatov will be going to Man United, then his odds of [14.0] for top goalscorer next season could be a good bet.

Like Kenny Dalglish, Keane can make a partnership. Mido looked top notch alongside him for Spurs when they almost pipped Arsenal for fourth spot three years ago and Berbatov has similarly flourished. I've little doubt Keane and Torres could become the new Dalglish and Rush - what is unclear is if Rafa Benitez intends to play a 4-4-1-1 if he does capture Keane.

The major frustration for Spurs is that they'd probably rather sell the duo today, pocket around £40-50 million, then go about replacing them. Who would fill their boots is a topic for another day, but it can't be healthy to have two star players attending training each day watching their phones for the call that a bid has been accepted for them. Sir Alex Ferguson has denied any wrong-doing in his alleged pursuit of Berbatov, but Benitez's public announcement of his desire to sign Keane is further proof that Liverpool are no longer the bastions of good footballing standards. I'm sure Simon Jordan has scant sympathy for Spurs, but the cold facts of footballing life are that the bigger you are as a club, the more you can behave how you desire.

It's been all-change at Norwich this summer with seven new signings to date. The most notable so far being ex-Arsenal striker Arturo Lupoli, who has joined on a season-long loan from Fiorentina, and former Portsmouth and Fulham defender Dejan Stefanovic. With Norwich currently sitting at [9.4] for promotion from The Championship, it seems Betfairians see them as being a mid-table side. But after Hull's exploits last season, you really can't discount anyone.

One player to note in this fixture is Norwich defender Gary Doherty, who is due to be facing his former side. It's been seven years since he put Spurs ahead in an FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, which they went on to lose. He was one of the first wave of young British players Spurs made it their transfer policy to sign when they purchased him from Luton Town. With the pressure mounting on the Spurs board to succeed, it remains to be seen if they'll be more of the likes of Dos Santos and Modric being signed rather than the ilk of Huddlestone and Jenas.

Norwich are at [4.2] to be victorious in this friendly, Spurs at [1.73], with [3.4] for the draw. Hopefully all three of Spurs new signings will be involved. Dos Santos should be the best dribbler at the club since David Ginola, Gomes will dominate his box (and have a few charismatic moments) and Juande Ramos will hope Modric can do for Spurs what Cesc Fabregas does for Arsenal. I suspect the media focus on this game will be the Keane/Berbatov situation but there's plenty of talent on the pitch to be concerned with too.