Watford welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Vicarage Road in a crunch New Year’s Day showdown at both ends of the Premier League table.
Victory will lift Watford up to 16th above Leeds United, whereas a win would see Tottenham climb above West Ham and Manchester United to fifth for at least a few hours.
Team News
Danny Rose is ruled out for Watford with a knee injury which forced the ex England international to miss the Hornets’ Bank Holiday Tuesday defeat at home to West Ham.
Kiko Femenia (knock) is a doubt but Tom Cleverley (hamstring is ruled out.
Ben Foster (groin), Christian Kabasele (calf) Peter Etebo (quad), Kwadwo Baah (ankle), Nicolas N’Koulou (hamstring) and Ismaila Sarr (knee) remain absent.
Tottenham will be without Steven Bergwijn after the Dutch striker suffered a calf injury which ruled him out of Tuesday’s draw at Southampton.
Giovani Lo Celso (knock), Cristian Romero (thigh) and Ryan Sessegnon (muscle) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Watford have won just one of their last five league meetings against Tottenham (W1, D2, L2).
- Tottenham have avoided defeat in four of their last five visits to Vicarage Road (W2, D2, L1).
- Two of seven Premier League clashes at Vicarage Road in this fixture have finished goalless.
- Emmanuel Dennis has scored in three of Watford’s last four home games.
- Sergio Reguilon has been yellow-carded in Spurs’ last two away matches.
Prediction
After having nearly two weeks off, Watford will be disappointed with the manner of their midweek defeat because they started the game well yet just defensively imploded with lacklustre marking even after trying a counter-attack style in second half to attempt a fightback.
Tottenham meanwhile will be pleased with their draw at Southampton after nearly two months without a domestic away match, in which they played well with plenty of long passes and through balls after weathering a slow start but lacked that final touch for the win.
Spurs though are unbeaten domestically under Antonio Conte and given Watford’s defensive mess, I would be surprised if this isn’t an away victory because Tottenham’s quality and form should make for one-way traffic.
Prediction: Watford 0-2 Tottenham
Result: Watford 0-1 Tottenham