How can Norwich pull off a miracle & help Arsenal into the Champions League?

How did it get to this, eh?

It feels like a decade’s passed since Arsenal supporters were celebrating a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leeds United to maintain their stranglehold on fourth spot in the Premier League.

That win will be just two weeks old when Everton make the trip to north London for the last outing of the season on Sunday afternoon, in what many projected to be a day of celebration for Mikel Arteta’s young Gunners.

But back-to-back defeats in the space of four perilous days has flipped the narrative surrounding Arsenal’s 2021/22 campaign. Ecstasy has rapidly evolved into agony, and resentment towards Tottenham is rife once more.

Antonio Conte is poised to lead Spurs into the Champions League at Arsenal’s expense. They need merely a point away at the already relegated Norwich to secure a berth in Europe’s premier club competition next season, while Arsenal must beat a safe Everton on the final day to have any hope of usurping their bitter rivals.

The chances of even Spurs messing this one up is incredibly slim, but there, if you search long and hard enough, lies a chance for Arsenal. Norwich are the Premier League’s worst outfit who have won five times all season while scoring just 23 times in 37 games. They must beat a buoyant Lilywhites on Sunday, and here’s how they could do it.

3 keys to a Norwich victory against Spurs which could help Arsenal into the Champions League

Here are three keys to a Norwich victory over Tottenham which could help Arsenal back into the Champions League.

1. Limit the space for Son Heung-min in behind

An antagonistic Son Heung-min manifested in the recent North London Derby as he escaped punishment for a subtle elbow on Rob Holding before he suckered the Arsenal defender into committing 1802 fouls in 33 minutes.

We all know how that mini-series culminated.

The South Korean then compounded Arsenal’s misery at the start of the second half to give Spurs a 3-0 lead. It was his 21st strike of the Premier League season, and he has his sights on his very first Golden Boot. Mo Salah currently leads the race with 22 strikes.

The statistics, however, will tell you that Son shouldn’t be anywhere near Salah in the scoring charts. The Tottenham hitman has scored 21 times from an xG of just 14.5. This difference between goals and expected goals (+6.5) can only be topped by Kevin De Bruyne (+9.1) in the Premier League this season.

In short, Son excels when attacking space. He combines speed, ruthless efficiency and ambipedality to devastating effect. Any side that surrenders space in behind is at risk of feeling the South Korean’s wrath – hence why Son has performed so well against the Premier League’s best this season.

However, the 29-year-old does struggle somewhat against deep-lying defences. He doesn’t boast the subtlety to excel in tight spaces, nor is he an elite isolationist. While he remains a threat in the box from cut-backs, there’s no denying that Son is a shadow of his usual self against low blocks. Thus, Norwich, if they are to do Arsenal a favour, would be wise to deepen their defensive line and limit the space for Son to attack in behind.

Fail to do so, and we could see the Canaries fall to a similar mauling as Hull City did when Spurs last took on an already relegated side on the final day. Harry Kane netted a hat-trick on that occasion to win the 2016/17 Golden Boot. Speaking of whom…

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