Watford vs Tottenham Hotspur

High-flying Tottenham Hotspur will look to pick up where they left off in 2021 when they take on out-of-sorts Watford at Vicarage Road in their first Premier League match-up of the new calendar year.

Despite taking an early lead in their final Premier League game of 2021, Watford ultimately succumbed to an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to West Ham United. Coming into this matchday, the ‘Hornets’ have lost five Premier League matches in a row and are currently one reverse away from equaling their longest losing streak in the top-flight since 2016/17. Therefore, it’s not surprising that they languish a mere two points above 18th-placed Burnley, who also have a game in hand over them. With the pressure ramping up on head coach Claudio Ranieri, Watford will be looking to halt a run of three consecutive Premier League defeats at home, all of which came by 2+ goals ‘to one.’ That could be easier said than done, as they’ve only won one of their last 17 Premier League meetings with Tottenham (D6, L10).

In the meantime, Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed a renaissance under the stewardship of new manager Antonio Conte, going unbeaten in all seven Premier League games during the Italian’s brief reign (W4, D3). Their noticeable upturn in form under the ex-Chelsea boss has effectively brought ‘Spurs’ in contention for a top-four finish as they now trail fourth-placed Arsenal by five points while boasting two games in hand. That should inspire Conte’s bid to snap Tottenham’s three-match winless Premier League run away from home (D2, L1) and post his first top-flight win on hostile turf since taking charge in November. Despite going down at Southampton on New Year’s Day back in 2020/21, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in the Tottenham camp. They had recorded five consecutive Premier League triumphs on New Year’s Day before last season’s failure.