England Premier League
Saturday 1st January 2022
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Vicarage Road
Match Preview:
For Watford it is 5 defeats in a row and one has to wonder if the board will sack Claudio Ranieri soon. Of course it is what Watford do, sack managers on a whim and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Italian is given his marching orders, because in truth apart from the first few weeks since taking the job what exactly has improved for the Hornets?
There is a real danger that they will be relegated and Newcastle who are in the bottom three are sure to improve once they can spend money in January. Watford are hanging in on there in 17th place and are 2 points clear of the bottom three and have the advantage of playing less games than their rivals around them, but still it is difficult to see where the next 3 points are coming from and the club will clearly be the outsiders for this game.
Tottenham have been one of the most improved teams since Antonio Conte took over and indeed the club are still unbeaten in the league under the Italian tactician. Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son have improved greatly since his arrival and of course if they are playing well that means the club are scoring goals. Still in their last game they did have a reality check as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Southampton despite playing against 10 men for the majority of the game. But it was another goal for Kane who looks really confident now.
League position is looking good too despite 2 points recently dropped and Spurs are 5 points adrift of their target of 4th place but have 2 games in hand over Arsenal who occupy that position. It’s 11 points earned from the clubs last 15 points and away from home it’s one defeat from their past four matches. However overall Tottenham have not performed well on the road with just two victories from a possible 7. As for Conte he has only managed two games on the road and both have finished in draws with just 1 goal scored, so there is room for improvement in that area for the club.
For league position Tottenham are in a good place because Wolves behind them are not only 5 points adrift but also have played a game more. Victory in this game could see Tottenham climb to 5th place too and move past Manchester United and West Ham.
Team News:
Watford: Tom Cleverley is a doubt with a hamstring injury and it is the same case for Femenia so both players will have to be assessed but could be doubts. Nicolas N’Koulou and Christian Sabalese are still two weeks away from returning. Ismailia Sarr is expected to be out for a further six weeks with his knee injury. Ben Foster is still out with his groin and isn’t expected back for another two weeks.
Tottenham: Steven Bergwijn is out with a calf strain. Ryan Sessegnon is not expected back for another two weeks at least with a muscle injury and Cristian Romero is still out with a hamstring injury.
Watford vs Tottenham Head to Head:
In the last 19 meetings Watford has just 1 win over Tottenham which happened in 2018.
Last season this fixture finished 0-0.
The last 3 meetings have all seen under 2.5 goals.
Watford vs Tottenham Prediction:
Tottenham are odds on favourites to win this game but are a fair price. This could potentially be a banana skin match for Spurs but we don’t see that happening here. Watford have been very poor recently and are shipping several goals and we know there are goals in this Tottenham side. True Spurs did fail to get a 2nd goal against Southampton but that should spur the club on to win this game and we don’t see Conte asking for anything less.
Watford have some key injuries, the club are really missing Ismailia Sarr who can score a few goals for them and was doing so before his injury. Our tip then is to see the away side win the game and score a few goals too. This will be Watford’s first game at home for the New Year but that has no significance that they are meeting a quality side who have found their confidence and mojo back in the past month and the Hornets also have a terrible record against Spurs, a solid away win for us.
Watford vs Tottenham Betting Tips:
Tottenham to beat Watford at 1.62
Over 2.5 goals at 1.72
Anytime goalscorer: Harry Kane at 1.66
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
