Premier League: How Tottenham Hotspur Will Line Up Against Norwich City

Tottenham Hotspur renew their acquaintance with the challenge of balancing Europa League and Premier League football on Sunday. After losing 1-0 to FC Dnipro, they will attempt to win a third consecutive league match against Norwich City.

The Canaries—who lost 2-0 at White Hart Lane in September—are hanging in there just above the relegation zone. One win in 2014 has left the mood around Chris Hughton's team bleak. But despite their worries, they are only three points off 10th place.

The sense of urgency around Carrow Road is almost palpable, though. Norwich chief executive David McNally confirmed to BBC Radio Norfolk, via BBC Sport, that former Spur Hughton "has been told in no uncertain terms 'get us out of that position and keep us out.'"

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Everton and Newcastle United were successfully negotiated, but the prospect of a desperate Norwich side is not one Tim Sherwood will be underestimating.

Several first-team players were rested for Thursday's Europa League match with this fixture in mind. The onus will be on them to set an energetic tone for Tottenham early on while also ensuring their own rust from 12 days without a competitive game is shaken off quickly. 

A failure to start positively was becoming an issue for Spurs. They corrected this against Newcastle, much to the pleasure of their manager:

"We’ve been critical in recent weeks about the way we’ve started games but not this time," Sherwood told Tottenham's official website. "We came out firing, as soon as the whistle went, we were off."

Set to lead this charge for Tottenham will again be Emmanuel Adebayor. The striker scored twice against the Magpies and will relish trying his luck against a Norwich defence that includes former teammate Sebastien Bassong.

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In support of Adebayor is likely to be a five-man midfield similar to that which has featured in Spurs' last three games. Sherwood has shown he likes to mix things up here, and he probably will this weekend too.

Nabil Bentaleb seems unmovable from his manager's lineup right now. Though he was a little quieter against Dnipro, his prominent role in the Newcastle win should see him given a more advanced role again.

Despite the fact that Paulinho also played in Ukraine, it would not be surprising to see him deployed again given the Brazilian's eye for a goal. Sherwood's concession to freshening up central midfield may be to restore Mousa Dembele back to defensive duty in place of Etienne Capoue.

On the flanks, Aaron Lennon is likely to be back starting on the right. After two games on the bench, Christian Eriksen may be installed from a starting left position as Sherwood looks to the creative midfield to maintain his team's flexible approach of late.

The look of the Spurs midfield has been almost unpredictable in recent weeks, so it could well go one of several different ways.

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Hugo Lloris will be in goal. Kyle Walker and a fit-again Danny Rose will almost certainly play right-back and left-back, respectively.

After his own impressive return against Newcastle, Younes Kaboul might play again at centre-back, especially with Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen both having played on Thursday.

Dawson and Kaboul have almost never clicked alongside each other, so if the Frenchman plays, it will probably be alongside Vertonghen.

It would be a big call from Sherwood to drop the club captain again, but his intentions have proved difficult to predict so far in his reign. After his first match taking the team in Europe, we may be in store for one or two more surprises in his Tottenham team.

Predicted Tottenham line-up versus Norwich City: Lloris; Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen (c), Rose; Lennon, Paulinho, Dembele, Bentaleb, Eriksen; Adebayor.