Watford vs Tottenham Hotspur 18/01/20

18 January 2020

Weekend’s Premier League (PL) action kicks off at Vicarage Road as resurgent Watford welcome out-of-sorts Tottenham Hotspur.

In-form Watford have picked up four wins in their last five league outings (W4, D1), escaping from the relegation zone for the first time this season. What’s more, the Hornets have racked up three successive PL home triumphs, with two of them coming against the sides from the upper half of the table and seeing Watford find the net inside the opening five minutes of the second half. But, it will be a daunting task for Nigel Pearson’s team to stretch their winning streak here, considering they’ve won only one of their previous six top-flight home H2Hs with Tottenham (W1, D2, L3). Notably, four of those clashes have witnessed both teams score, with three of their last four such meetings producing over 2.5 goals. Finding the opening goal will be vital for Watford to secure another success, as they’ve won all three of their PL home fixtures where they’ve drawn first blood.

Meanwhile, the visitors halted a four-game winless run in all competitions (D2, L2) with a 2-1 home triumph over Middlesbrough in FA Cup during the midweek, and they will be looking to regain some momentum in the PL now. Spurs head to Watford on a run of three consecutive league games without a win (D1, L2); with both of their defeats during that two-game sequence coming via the identical 1-0 score. Although both of Tottenham’s PL away triumphs have come under Jose Mourinho, the Londoners have now failed to clinch a win in their last two PL road trips, conceding the opening goal inside the first 20 minutes of play on both of those occasions. Tottenham’s inability to respond after shipping the opener has seen them return just two points from five PL away games that have seen their rivals break the deadlock (D2, L3).