Watford vs Tottenham Hotspur: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

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A woefully out of form Watford host Tottenham Hotspur for their opening match of 2022 on Saturday afternoon.

The good will engendered by a 4-1 win that proved the death knell blow for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United has been gradually eroded by five successive defeats since for the Hornets.

Conversely, Antonio Conte is yet to lose a Premier League game in charge of Tottenham – but did have some of his momentum checked by a 1-1 draw away to Southampton in midweek.

When is kick off? Saturday 1 January, 15:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Vicarage Road
TV channel/live stream? Soccer Saturday – Sky Sports, Final Score – BBC Two (UK), UNIVERSO (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube, Match of the Day (10.45pm – BBC One)
Referee? Robert Jones
VAR? Lee Mason

Tom Cleverley, Che AdamsTom Cleverley, Che Adams

Tom Cleverley missed Watford’s first match in 18 days with injury / Alex Pantling/GettyImages

Watford were only able to conduct a ‚full‘ training session for the first time in two weeks on Monday, the day before West Ham stuffed four goals past them. However, even that workout would have been without a raft of players still recovering from a slew of injuries.

Peter Etebo (quadricep) and Kwadwo Baah (ankle) both have a significant amount of work to do before returning from long-term absences. While Ben Foster (groin) and Christian Kabasele (calf) are scheduled to make a comeback within the next few weeks, Ismaila Sarr isn’t set to return to first team training until February – even though Senegal have surprisingly called him up for the imminent Africa Cup of Nations.

Nicolas N’Koulou is making progress on his recovery from hamstring surgery but Tom Cleverley – along with Danny Rose (knee) – was left out of the midweek squad for an ailment in the same area.

Kiko Femenia is also a doubt after picking up a knock against the Hammers.

You can read Watford’s predicted lineup here.

Steven Bergwijn marked his first start under Conte with a goal but suffered a fitness blow during his next outing on Boxing day four days later. The Dutch international joins Giovani Lo Celso on the sidelines after the midfielder pulled up with a concern during the warm down of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup quarter-final.

While Cristian Romero’s long-awaited return from a nasty thigh injury draws ever closer, Ryan Sessegnon is at the beginning of a layoff that is only set to last two weeks.

You can read Tottenham’s predicted lineup here.

To put it bluntly, Watford have a wretched record against Tottenham. The Hornets have only won eight of their 51 meetings with the capital side (D11 L32) since the pair first met in the Southern League 12 decades ago.

Watford have recorded just one win in their last 19 matches against Spurs across all competitions, a dreary sequence that stretches back to the mid-1990s.

Spurs may have come unstuck against a dogged and resolute Southampton side but Watford have offered little evidence to suggest they can put up a rearguard commensurate to the ten man Saints.

Watford remain the only team in England’s four professional tiers yet to keep a clean sheet. Tottenham may not have quite clicked into gear going forward, but it’s unlikely that they’ll be the first team to break that streak.

Prediction: Watford 0-2 Tottenham