So that’s your lot. Paul MacInnes was our man at Vicarage Road, and his verdict has landed. Here it is. Enjoy ... and thanks for reading this MBM.
Nigel Pearson’s reaction. “We had to work hard to get into it, they started well. But we certainly grew into the game and in the second half created some really good opportunities. On another day we could have come away with the three points, but I’m still pleased with the efforts and endeavours of the players. We could have won it, we could have lost it. We know the margins are small. But as long as we go into games with a positive intent, and give a committed performance, I know we’ve got the ability and the tools in the box to get enough results. But we have to do it week in, week out. People may look at this as a bit of a setback, but I don’t.”
Jose is not particularly happy. “I know it was a couple of millimetres, but the goal-line technology doesn’t make mistakes like the VAR makes, so it was not a goal. The Tottenham performance - separate from the referee and VAR decisions, because I prefer not to comment - was good. We started very very well. Immediately we had a situation after a couple of minutes. They put long balls in the box and one or two crosses and set plays, it is impossible to be always dominant against them. In the second half it was more 50-50, but we tried with the ammunition we have. We tried to bring energy and more depth from midfield with Gedson, and more quality with Eriksen, and we were two millimetres from winning the match. There are various decisions that I leave for the pundits and the specialists, I prefer not to speak. I think we deserve to win this match, to lose would be too much of a punishment for the boys.”
Despite the penalty miss, that’s a decent point for Watford against a side who rarely give them anything. They’re up to 16th, for a couple of hours at least, on 23 points, two clear of the dropzone. Spurs may not be so chuffed: they’re eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, in seventh place. That gap could become 11 if the Blues win at Newcastle this evening. Jose Mourinho hasn’t delivered much of a honeymoon bounce, something that goes a fair way to explaining the grim look on his grid as he walked off. Nigel Pearson by contrast was both happy and clappy.
Troy Deeney talks to BT Sport: “Yeah, I missed, the simple as that. I’m not going to apologise for it, I’ve scored in other games and won the game, so it’s one of them. I’ll take the next one. I feel sorry for the boys, because this guy [Capoue, to his left] was fantastic. I should have won it for the boys. We are disappointed with a point against Spurs. We’re confident, but we’re not getting above our station, we know where we are. It’s onto the next one [at Aston Villa] on Tuesday.”
FULL TIME: Watford 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Paulo Gazzaniga denied Troy Deeney. Ignacio Pussetto denied Erik Lamela. And that was that.
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90 min +2: 99.99999999999% of the ball was in the goal. Only the thickness of the pattern remained on the white line. You can’t come any closer to scoring.
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90 min +1: Son works his way down the left and rolls a pass inside. Eriksen leaves it for Aurier, whose shot is blocked. But Aurier picks up possession again, and crosses low. Confusion in the six-yard box. Lamela hooks goalwards. The ball breaks off Mariappa’s back, wrong-footing Foster. The ball’s rolling into the bottom left. But Pussetto hooks off the line!
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90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: Lamela takes another ambitious punt at goal. The result is the same.
88 min: Aurier fizzes a low cross into the box from the right. Lamela nearly latches onto it, hoping to poke home from six yards, but Foster parries well. Watford clear their lines, then replace Sarr, who has pulled up holding his hamstring. Enter another debutant: Ignacio Pussetto.
86 min: Lamela races down the left and tries the spectacular from a tight angle. Nope. Down the other end, Capoue has a batter from 25 yards. It’s on target but deflected clear. Gazzaniga probably had it covered.
85 min: On the touchline, Mourinho tries to find some common ground with the fourth official. A full and frank exchange of views. Not sure what riles him so. It could be something, it could be nothing. I’ve got nothing else for you.
83 min: A little bit of space for the box-fresh Fernandes, who escapes down the left and scuffs a shot-cum-cross into the middle. Cathcart hacks clear.
82 min: Moves of more than two passes at a premium right now. In lieu of action, here’s entertainment journalist Hubert O’Hearn: “If you take the first two letters of Christian Eriksen’s first and last name it spells Cher. I mention this obscurity because the Spur and the singer have had the same number of farewell appearances. I’ll get my coat.”
80 min: Both sides make a change. Watford replace Chalobah with Pereyra, while Spurs send on their new signing Gedson Fernandes. He takes Lo Celso’s place. His first touch, an attempted cross from the right, is deflected out for a throw.
78 min: Deulofeu, out on the left, sails a ball towards Sarr on the other flank. Sarr hoicks an ambitious effort over the bar from 20 yards.
76 min: It’s not been a classic, though both teams have had their chances. Can somebody break the deadlock? Please?
74 min: Eriksen comes on for Alli, who has a right cob on, flinging some kit into the dugout with great force as he sits down. Eriksen’s first act is to take a corner on the left. His delivery is easy pickings for Foster. Meanwhile the Watford faithful pay their respects to the much-missed Graham Taylor with the warmest round of applause you could ever hear. Everyone in the ground paying their respect.
72 min: Watford haven’t let the penalty miss deflate them. They’re pinning Spurs back in their box. Spurs can’t get out. Deulofeu, Sarr and Doucoure probe this way and that. No way through.
70 min: GAZZANIGA SAVES! Deeney batters towards the bottom left. The Spurs keeper guesses correctly, and that’s a fine save! Spurs escape from that little sequence with just a booking for Vertonghen.
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69 min: PENALTY TO WATFORD! This has warmed them up! Deulofeu latches onto a loose ball, just to the right of the D. Vertonghen slides in, his arm stuck up in the air. Deulofeu’s shot hits it. A no-brainer for Michael Oliver, who points to the spot. VAR will check, of course, but it’ll be given.
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68 min: A pulsating atmosphere at Vicarage Road, despite the slightly dull fare being served up. Plenty of stomping, clapping and chanting. Anything to keep warm on a chilly day.
66 min: Sarr busies himself down the right and nearly gets the better of Tanganga. Not quite, not this time, but he’s been asking quite a few questions down this flank since the restart.
64 min: Then Spurs suddenly burst forward, Lamela taking a whack from the edge of the box. The shot is deflected out for a corner, off Dawson’s shoulder. Maybe it brushed the top of his arm, but his arm was in a natural position by his side. Before the corner can be taken, VAR sticks its neb in again, checking for a possible penalty. For goodness sake. No penalty. The resulting corner wasn’t worth waiting for.
63 min: After a hectic few minutes, Spurs calm things down by stroking it around the back for a while.
61 min: Son breaks down the inside right and looks to send a worldie into the top right. It’s not far away, but it’s also in the stand behind. Not sure Foster was getting that had it been fired right at the postage stamp.
59 min: Wahey! It all kicks off, suddenly, out of nothing. Winks and Doucoure tussle, then clash, the pair shoving each other in the intense style. Vertonghen gets involved in the melee and is shoved over for his trouble. He holds his mouth. Has someone taken a dig? Not really. VAR checks for a red, but it’s just a yellow for the initial troublemakers Winks and Doucoure.
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57 min: Deeney once again bothers Alderweireld. This time the defender concedes a free kick out on the left. Again the set piece is no good, and Spurs go up the other end, Son nearly breaking clear down the left. Good work by Mariappa and Chalobah puts a stop to his gallop.
55 min: Deeney powers his way down the inside left, through Alderweireld and Aurier, both Spurs men defending hopelessly. Deeney gets a chance to shoot, and aims for the bottom right. The ball takes a deflection off Alderweireld and out for a corner. The set piece comes to nothing, but what dreadful dithering by Tottenham there, Alderweireld and Aurier spinning like teenagers full of Special Brew. They didn’t have a clue what was going on, and Deeney wasn’t in the mood to let them off. No wonder Spurs are having trouble keeping clean sheets.
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53 min: Son glides down the right and whips the cross of the day to the far post. Alli makes a perfectly timed run into the area, but sends a less-than-perfect header miles over the bar from close range. Both teams will wonder how they haven’t scored in this second half. Both teams should have.
52 min: Sarr waltzes past Tanganga as though the young man wasn’t there. He earns a corner, Chalobah wastes it by hoofing it over everyone in the box.
50 min: Another decent chance for Watford. Capoue swings one in from the right. Deeney heads down for Sarr, who slices a weak effort wide right from six yards. Much better from the hosts since the restart.
49 min: Another stat: Spurs haven’t won a match in the league this season when they’ve been level at half-time.
47 min: What a chance to open the scoring. For those hoping for a second-half goalfest, a worry: Spurs haven’t scored in the league since Harry Kane’s injury. On the other hand, in his last 26 league games, since the summer of 2018, Mourinho and his teams have kept just three clean sheets. So it’s swings and roundabouts.
We’re off again! Spurs get the ball rolling. Within 90 seconds of the restart, Sarr makes good down the right and finds Doucoure on the edge of the six-yard box. Somehow, with the goal at his mercy, Doucoure scuffs a shot into the side netting. To be fair, Gazzaniga had made himself large.
Half-time entertainment. Liverpool v Manchester United isn’t the only super showdown tomorrow. Here’s Suzanne Wrack on Chelsea’s must-win trip to Arsenal in the WSL.
HALF TIME: Watford 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
It’ll be better in the second half. It has to be.
45 min +1: In the first of two added minutes, there’s a bit of space for Sarr down the right. The ball drops towards Chalobah. Aurier flicks a header clear just in time.
44 min: So having said that, the game goes totally flat. Half-time, please!
42 min: Chalobah, to the right of the D, dinks a diagonal ball into the box. Deeney guides a header towards the top left, but Gazzaniga is all over it. The game is finally opening up. A shame the half-time whistle is coming soon.
40 min: Spurs nearly score a spectacular goal. Vertonghen, in the centre circle, creams a glorious long pass towards Son, cutting in from the left. Son meets the dropping ball with a screaming volley, sending the ball over the crossbar from the edge of the box. That would have instantly become Tottenham’s second greatest goal at Vicarage Road.
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38 min: Spurs break quickly upfield. Alli slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Moura, who strides into the box and tries to slip a shot under Foster. But the keeper makes himself big, and blocks brilliantly, the ball pinging away from danger. The clearest chance of the game so far.
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37 min: A throw for Watford on the right. Mariappa flings it long. Deeney flicks it on. Lo Celso hacks the dropping ball clear.
35 min: This is a booking, though. Capoue slides in cynically on Lo Celso, who was threatening to break. He’d probably not have made that tackle had he been censured for the challenge on Tanganga earlier, but here we are.
34 min: Aurier clips Deulofeu as the Watford man scampers down the left. The free kick is a waste of everyone’s time. Aurier wants to watch himself, that’s another slightly rash tackle. But again he escapes a booking.
32 min: A first spell of serious pressure from Watford. Capoue crosses from the right. Deeney nearly flicks home. Deulofeu sees a shot from a tight angle on the left deflected into the side netting. Capoue flings in another cross, and Gazzaniga is forced to claw out from under the bar. That’s got the crowd going, on matters that have nothing to do with video refereeing this time.
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30 min: We’re off again at last. Son and Alli combine down the inside left, the former sending a shot towards the bottom left that’s easily claimed by Foster.
29 min: We’ll play on? Scrub that. Referee Michael Oliver has to stop play because the batteries on his walkie-talkie and earpiece combo have run out, and he’s forced to get a new set. While we wait, the crowd burst into a chorus of the popular English folk standard Fuck VAR. Modern football in a nutshell, right there.
27 min: Capoue sticks out a boot to contest a 50-50 with Tanganga. He wins the ball, but also catches the Spurs defender on his knee with the follow-through. Spurs aren’t happy, but VAR isn’t interested. We’ll play on.
26 min: Son and Alli nearly open Watford up down the left with a cute one-two, but Mariappa is wise to their game and intercepts just in time.
24 min: Another punt down the Watford right. Sarr brings it down, with Alderweireld and Vertonghen both looking a little concerned on the edge of their box. Sarr threatens to spin away again, but he’s flagged for bringing the ball down with his arm. Spurs don’t look particularly happy under the long ball.
22 min: Aurier sweeps into the box from the right, latching onto a Lo Celso pass, and harmlessly prods wide of goal. A decent chance made to look more difficult than it was. Aurier is getting a bit of joy down this flank.
20 min: A long ball down the Watford right. Tanganga misjudges a header, allowing Sarr to spin off. Tanganga drags him down, and that’s an obvious booking and a free kick, just to the right of the box. Danger for Spurs here. Watford load the box. But with options in the middle, Chalobah tries to whip a cute one into the top right, and blooters it wildly into the stand. The dugout fills with steam, freshly pumped from the ears of Nigel Pearson, who also uses words such as eff and cee with much passion. That’ll be mentioned in the half-time team-talk, you can be sure of it.
18 min: Doucoure robs Winks on the left and romps down the wing. He pulls back for Sarr, who is in acres on the penalty spot. But the young striker doesn’t want to hit the ball with his left peg, so takes a touch to shift it onto his other foot and hoicks it over the bar, having made a good chance a damn sight more difficult. Still, that’s better from Watford, who have finally shown something in attack.
16 min: Watford have barely ventured into Tottenham’s final third. It’s the away fans making the most noise at the moment.
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15 min: A lovely sweeping Spurs move, as Lo Celso, Moura and Son exchange crisp passes at high speed down the middle. It’s not quite enough to open Watford up, but very pleasing on the eye nonetheless.
13 min: Aurier works space to cross down the right. But instead of crossing he starts lolloping around, turns tail, then loses control of the ball and launches into a wild tackle on Cathcart. Free kick, and he’s slightly fortunate to escape a booking, because he introduced a stud or two into that lunge. He’s never boring, you have to give him that.
11 min: Son crosses long from the left. Aurier, from the other flank, sends it back into the box. Cathcart does extremely well to eyebrow away from danger with Moura lurking. Then Tanganga is afforded space for a shot, which he whistles towards the bottom left. Foster gathers. Watford need to wake up, because they’re asking for trouble with these passive tactics.
9 min: Watford seem happy to sit back at the moment, seeing what Spurs have got. They’re holding their shape well enough, but the away side are on top at the minute.
7 min: Lo Celso feeds Aurier down the right, and the wing-back wins the first corner of the game. Lamela takes, and Foster punches miles clear with purpose. But Spurs come straight back at Watford, Lamela taking a speculative look from 25 yards. He flies right to left before dragging a low shot wide right of the target. Spurs look lively.
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5 min: Watford haven’t seen much of the ball yet, though they’re flying into a few tackles in a very businesslike manner. Nigel Pearson will be happy enough with that.
3 min: Son whips a shot towards the bottom left from 20 yards. Foster gathers. On the touchline, some breaking news: Jose has a face on. He’s not happy, wondering why VAR didn’t take a proper look at the Cathcart handball and award his men a penalty.
2 min: Spurs enjoy some early possession, and stroke it around nicely. Son threatens to break clear down the left, not once but twice. The ball breaks into the Watford box and bounces off Cathcart’s arm, Moura flicking on. But the players were too close together, so no penalty. Deulofeu races off up the other end as Spurs appeal, and lashes a long-distance effort wide right. Let’s hope the game continues in this manner.
And we’re off! Watford get the ball rolling, then launch it long. Then lose it, and concede a free kick in the centre circle. A fun-packed first 12 seconds.
Here come the teams! The theme from Z Cars blasts from the speakers. Tributes are being paid to legendary Watford manager Graham Taylor, one of the nicest men in the entire history of football having passed away three years ago. The home heroes in yellow and black, Spurs sporting first-choice lilywhite. Nice to see the visitors haven’t defaulted needlessly into their keeping-the-marketing-manager-happy away colours, like so many clubs do these days. Off in a minute!
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If Nigel Pearson gave a pre-match interview, your hapless MBM correspondent must have missed it. I’ve failed you, dear reader. O can you ever forgive me? If it makes up for it at all, I can report that he looked very chipper as he watched his charges warming up, laughing heartily with his players in a manner that’d make Jurgen Klopp look like Alex Ferguson in hairdryer mode. A happy ship at the moment, Watford. On the other hand, here’s Mike T: “Seems to me Spurs fans are divided. Some are gleeful at watching football in a spaceship shopping mall applauding Mr Levy’s zero net spend. And the rest, livid that we don’t win anything. Either way can anyone say they are excited at this starting 11 compared to a few years ago?”
Jose Mourinho, slightly flat, not exactly exuding sunshine this morning, speaks to BT Sport. “If I focus on the Leicester, Liverpool and Middlesbrough matches, I have to be happy with what the boys did. So let’s hope that we can follow that direction, because we were intense, we played well, we were organised. Defensively we didn’t have big problems, we created a lot of chances, we played very nice quality football. We probably didn’t score enough goals for what we did, but let’s see if we can follow. We don’t have the striking power, the number-nine target we used to play with, so we have to try to play in a different way.”
Watford are in if-it-ain’t-broke mode. No changes to the side that trounced Bournemouth 3-0 at their own gaff.
Four changes for Spurs, though, from the XI named against Boro midweek. Eric Dier, Ryan Sessegnon, Davison Sanchez and Inter’s Christian Eriksen drop to the bench; Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min step up.
The teams
Watford: Foster, Mariappa, Dawson, Cathcart, Masina, Chalobah, Capoue, Sarr, Doucoure, Deulofeu, Deeney.
Subs: Pussetto, Gomes, Gray, Quina, Holebas, Kabasele, Pereyra.
Tottenham Hotspur: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Tanganga, Winks, Alli, Lamela, Lo Celso, Son, Lucas Moura.
Subs: Sanchez, Vorm, Dier, Sessegnon, Eriksen, Skipp, Fernandes.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Preamble
Watford have only beaten Tottenham Hotspur twice in the last 32 years. And one of those victories was a futile one-goal win after a 6-3 first-leg larruping in the League Cup. Oh Watford!
But all is not lost. The other win came in this fixture last season, Troy Deeney and Craig Cathcart scoring the goals in a 2-1 win. And there’s more good news for the Hornets at this, the more recent end of our historical sample.
Watford also outplayed Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in October. They felt a little hard done by to come away with only a 1-1 draw, having created plenty of chances only to be pegged back late in the day by Dele Alli. Additionally, they’re in by far the better form right now. Spurs have only won one of their last five Premier League games, losing three; Watford by contrast are on a success bender under new boss Nigel Pearson, having picked up 13 points from the last 15 on offer.
Spurs did have a confidence-boosting win in the cup over Middlesbrough during the week. And on another day they could have turned their home loss against leaders Liverpool into a draw or even a precious victory. So you can make a case for both sides going into this match with hope ... and another argument for them kicking off in trepidation. But this is why we play the actual matches rather than just yakking on about them. Can Watford continue their steady climb out of bother? Or will Spurs reignite their top-four hopes with a much-needed win? We’ll find out as we eat our lunch. It’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.
