Tottenham versus Watford in Recent BPL History
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham Hotspur have played Watford Hornets six times since the Hornets were promoted back to the Premier League in 2015 after 9-year absence. Spurs have won five of the six games, with the sixth game resulting in a 1-1 draw. So, what have those six games looked like and what does that tell us much for what to expect Sunday afternoon?
In 2015-16, Spurs had to wait until December and Matchday 19 to face Watford in the BPL for the first time since a 3-1 Spurs win in the 2006-07 season. Erik Lamela scored early (17’) with an assist from Harry Kane. Heung-Min Son scored late, 89th minute, off a Kieran Trippier feed.
There was a first half goal from Odiron Ighal in the 41st minute, meaning most of the game, over an hour, was tied. This despite the fact Nathan Ake received a straight red in the 63rd minute. Not the prettiest victory, but a Spurs win nonetheless.
Later, on Matchday 25, the game was again tied for over an hour, before a Kieran Trippier goal off a Dele Alli assist in the 64’ minute put the Spurs ahead for good in the 1-0 victory. This left the 2015-16 season, Spurs 2 Watford 0, with a 3-1 aggregate score, in games that were close for an hour each, but Spurs ultimately pulled through.
2016-17 was the same story, but a different verse. This season, Spurs again beat the Hornets twice, but this time the combined score was 8-1 across the two games. A Younes Kaboul goal in the 90th minutes of the first meeting on January 1, 2017, at the end of a 4-1 shellacking was the Hornet’s only goal.
That Matchday 19 contest at Vicarage Road was over in the first half. A first half Harry Kane double was followed by a Dele Alli brace he scored just before and after the half. Trippier was the provider on both of Kane’s goals, while Kane assisted Dele on his second, but his first was un-assisted.
The Matchday 32 meeting at White Hart Lane wasn’t much different. Again, 3 Tottenham first half goals, with the opener by Dele from Son, Dier un-assisted, and then Son from Eriksen. Son then became the third Spur to score a brace against Watford that season with a second half goal, from Tripps.
Last season wasn’t quite the walkover from 16-17. Watford struck first at home on Matchday 15 with a Christian Kabasele goal off a Tom Cleverley assist. Christian Eriksen assisted Son, who scored for the third time in two matches against the Hornets to tie the game in the 25th minute.
Things went topsy-turvy for Spurs when Davison Sanchez picked up a straight red in the 52nd minute. With over 40 minutes, counting the injury time of hanging on to a 1-1 game on the road, Spurs were somewhat happy to leave with a draw, as opposed to what could have been down a man for 40 minutes of a match.
Watford then came to Wembley on Matchday 26 in early April of this year, where Alli and Kane again struck, for a 2-0 Spurs victory. Of course, the assists came from Eriksen, who has 3 assists in the six games and from Kieran Trippier who has 5 assists and a goal across those six matches. Notably in the draw Tripps didn’t get on the score sheet or provide the assist. Across the six matches, Dele and Son both lead Spurs with 4 goals apiece followed by Kane’s 3.
All this leads us to this earlier than we normally play Watford first meeting of the 2018-19 season. At this point, we have two teams essentially tied for first coming into the matchday, but not first on goal differential. The Hornets have started the season well and have already won in different ways.
The 2-0 win on Matchday 1 over Brighton was Watford controlling the tempo of the game, outshooting Brighton 19-6, with five on-target. They had 8 corners, out possessed Brighton 54/46, and only committed six fouls. Second year Hornet Roberto Pereyra scored both goals, about 10 minutes before and after the half.
On Matchday 2, the Hornets struck early from Andre Gray in the third minute against Burnley FC, who then tied the match with a goal of their own, just 3 minutes later. Deeney and Hughes scored 2 early in the second half for Watford and they semi-cruised to the 3-1 win. Watford outshot Burnley 9/8, with six shots on target. Burnley did possess the ball, 59%, but 19 fouls from Watford slowed the game down, for a tired Burnley after their European excursions
Last week, on Matchday 3, after a 0-0 first half, Pereyra again scored, followed by Holebas for a 2-0 lead, before a furious late push in the match from Crystal Palace. Wilfred Zaha pulled one back in the 78th minute, but despite holding a 57/43 possession edge, Crystal Palace couldn’t produce a second. The Hornets again outshot their opponent 13/9, with another 5 shots on target. While not as many as they had against Burnley, Watford did commit another 14 fouls last week and received 4 yellow cards in the hotly contested match.
What does that mean for this week? Well expect Spurs to likely possess the ball more than the Hornets, likely around a 59-61% for Spurs, if Watford expects to be in the game. If Spurs possession is above 65%, this may end up like those two romps two years ago. However, if the Hornets can keep the possession before 57% for Spurs and continue to accumulate more shots, 41-23 advantage, despite losing the possession battle, Watford could give Spurs a run. Oh, and averaging 13 fouls a game, expect plenty of whistles against Javi Gracia’s team.
All this said, I expect Spurs to be focused and ready to run hard. Since Son is out, for his very successful and very notable national team commitments, and his history has been good against Watford, expect another big day from Lucas Moura, as well as a good chance for a goal from both Dele and Kane. Throw in an assist from Eriksen and of course Trippier, and it is business as usual for Spurs versus the Hornets. Prediction, I don’t do that, but I do know, if Dele scores, Tottenham is likely to win and he likes to score against the Hornets for what that is worth.