Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Watford

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Monday 28th December 3pm
Vicarage Road
Premier League​

Two wins and two clean sheets following the horrible loss to Newcastle, but I feel this is a tougher test.
Watford look up for a real fight this season, they've got two powerful front men and both Capoue and Gomes left WHL on a sour note.
They're on a good run too, winning four of the last five and they're only three points behind us.
The players need to be really switched on for this one and expecting a battle.

There's been some focus on Watford's traditionally English way of playing this season.
4-4-2, plenty balls for the forwards to chase and compete for and a spirited midfield.
Quite odd for a side managed by a very Spanish manager with plenty of overseas players.
It's worked well for them so far and there are a few other sides doing well with it, too.

Our best bet is to continue doing what we've been doing, not get involved in the physical stuff and try to outplay them.
Getting midfielders back to help deal with their strikers is key, so rumours of Dembele's fitness are a concern.
Bentaleb and Mason are supposed to be back to full fitness, though.

We haven't faced our opponents in the league for a while, but this was from their last season in the top-flight:

LIneups for the last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Dembele; Lamela, Alli, Eriksen; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Rose, Bentaleb, Carroll, Chadli, Son.
League form: WDDLWW.

Watford: Gomes; Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Holebas; Abdi, Capoue, Watson, Jurado; Ighalo, Deeney.
Subs: Arlauskis, Prodl, Behrami, Guediora, Berghuis, Anya, Diamanti.
League form: LWWWWD.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Do we need to rotate and get some fresh legs in or should we stick with a winning side?
If Dembele isn't fit enough to start, then who should replace him?
Is there anything that we should change to deal with Watford's style of play?

 

Watford have lost at home to Palace, Arsenal and Man U so they can be beaten and are probably more vulnerable at home. They are fast on the breakaway but cannot expect to only play on the break at home.

 

We should be very much up for this, a win would take us up to third for a day at least. I can see us weathering the early storm and maybe scoring 3 or 4 with gomes throwing a couple in for old times sake. I would replace Eriksen with son as I think it might be quite a physical match. 4-2 spurs

 

Old adage- never change a winning team - so leave it as it is.
Dembele apparently fit to play.
Can't wait for Dier's first challenge on Capoue could set the tone.
Will be a tough examination of our top 4 credentials but I expect us to win narrowly.

 

Watford have good recent form, so it will be an acid test for the boys
as to what/where their aspirations are.

A win first, clean sheet second, and a performance worthy of those things last.

 

Watford are a good team on an excellent run. I would rotate where a player seems to be no or very little dropoff, so Rose, Carroll and Son start, in place of Davies, Dembélé and, I think Eriksen, who looks like he could use a break. We’ve improved somewhat unsteadily over the course of the season so far, and have gotten over a couple of the hurdles that tripped up past teams. We still need to show we can beat the new teams near the top of the table. We drew against both Leicester and Crystal Palace so far. Whenever both teams would settle for a draw, they often do, however.

Watford have some similarities to us, I think: two dangerous forwards play in front of a rugged and well organized team that’s been very hard to score against. The biggest worry is the long ball over the top to Ighalo or perhaps Deeny. Vertonghen has been having the least-not606-celebrated really good year of any of our players, but continues to look hopeless on long, high balls. Surely this is the time for Federico Fazio...

to get his stuff boxed up for a quick exit in the January window.

 

Oh no I wish you hadn't said we can go third. It's like saying to arsenal you can go top with a win

 

Ballsy move to rest Eriksen

 

I really hope Carroll has a good game today. He wasn't great v Newcastle so I think it's good that he's been given another chance.

 

Ballsy to play trippier

 

Worried about Trippier, every time I have watched him live he has been inconsistent

 

I can understand players being rested with lots of matches in a short period.
I also like Tom Carroll as a player. However, today, he wouldn't have been my choice away to Watford. They are strong physically and I personally feel that son would have been the better choice. But what do I know?
Let's hope it's a master stroke from Poch.. Coys!!!

 

Eriksen hasn't been all that great lately, to be fair.

I think the changes are good, we want to avoid players burning out so resting the players we can is a good idea. We've got good cover in the fullback positions so swapping them from time to time is quite easy and it's always good to see a young player rewarded for doing well so Carroll's second start is well earned and I'm glad he won't be playing the deeper role as he struggled there against Newcastle.

3 changes is a good number but I'm a bit disappointed Son doesn't get a start, we really need to see what he can do.

 

We're doing well, playing some lovely football and Watford also full of confidence, also playing good football and with a couple of guys wanting to prove points. I would be happy with a point - and there haven't been too many times against Watford that I would have said that!!

Interesting rotations, although Walker and Eriksen probably need a rest. Can't understand with Rose for Davies - especially in an away game. Davies has been significantly more reliable defensively and both have played around the same number of games so no obvious tiredness issues. Just hope that Tom Carroll is strong enough for this encounter - his goal v Norwich must have boosted his confidence.

COYS!!

 

Hopefully Carroll will play as a number 10 in a like for like swap with Eriksen. We discussed at length after the Newcastle game how his slight build doesn't allow him to play deeper next to Dier, who in turn lacks the experience to the dual job of protecting his back 4 and his playmaker. Alli and Lamela have enough bite and tenacity between them to draw most of the physical confrontations away from Tom. My greater concern is Trippier, who has put in roughly 25 minutes of decent football since joining.

The flip side of this is that we have really, really strong attacking options able to come on from the bench.

Talking of which, where has Onomah gone?

 

Alot of there play will go down the left to Anya, I can see him causing trippier alot of problems.

 

Risky changes, but I think that we do need to rotate at some point.
Not sure that picking two smaller fullbacks is the best idea against Watford.
This is the sort of game that can make a manager look very clever or very silly. I'm hoping it's not the latter.

 

Ugh... I have that Newcastle feeling. Watford are bruisers.

 

A minute's applause for Don Howe in only two of the five 3 o'clock kick-offs. Odd.

 

Alli booked for a perfect challenge