Watford v Tottenham Team News

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Watford boss Nigel Pearson

Watford could call on new boy Ignacio Pussetto as they look to continue their resurgence at home to Tottenham on Saturday.

The Hornets welcome Spurs to their patch in fine form, unbeaten in six across all competitions, and hoping to edge further away from relegation danger.

Both clubs have changed manager this season, although Watford have done that on two occasions, with differing amounts of success coming from those calls.

Nigel Pearson’s appointment in December helped to inspire the squad and a 3-0 drubbing of Bournemouth last time out saw them climb out of the bottom three for the first time this term.

It was surprising to see a side that reached last season’s FA Cup final struggle so much in the first half of 2019-20 but the squad are finally starting to churn out performances on a regular basis.

Pearson is unlikely to make big moves in the transfer market this month but he did complete his first piece of business on Tuesday, signing Pussetto from Udinese on a four-and-a-half-year deal for £7million.

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The 24-year-old has been drafted in to add competition in the forward line and he is expected to be named on the bench this weekend.

Christian Kabasele could return to the starting XI after serving a ban, while Will Hughes and Kiko Femenia are close to recovering from injuries but will likely need another week.

Jose Mourinho hasn’t been able to turn things around at Tottenham as swiftly as his counterpart Pearson has at Watford and the jury is still very much out concerning his appointment.

Tottenham have won just once in 2020, beating Middlesbrough 2-1 in an FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday.

Indeed, they are without a win in three Premier League matches and have won just one of the last five.

Mourinho opted to rotate for the FA Cup encounter and will likely make wholesale changes once again this weekend.

New signing Gedson Fernandes could play some part but he isn’t expected to be match fit after being frozen out by former club Benfica.

Toby Alderweireld should come back into the fold but Ben Davies, Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris and Moussa Sissoko remain out with injuries.

Watford have only earned one victory over Tottenham in the last 17 meetings across all competitions in a run that dates back to 1994.

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