Watford provide fitness update on nine players ahead of Tottenham clash

Watford have issued an update on the fitness of nine players ahead of their New Year’s Day encounter against Tottenham.

Claudio Ranieri’s side welcome Tottenham to Vicarage Road looking to bring an end to a five-game losing streak – the latest of which came as a 4-1 loss to West Ham on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Spurs will be hoping to shake off the remnants of their frustrating 1-1 draw at Southampton, where Antonio Conte’s men couldn’t put to bed a Saints side playing with 10 men for over a half of football.

Hosts Watford, though, come into Saturday’s encounter with a number of lingering injury concerns and confirmed absentees.

The Hornets are set to welcome back Tom Cleverley for the visit of Spurs, with the midfielder now fully recovered from a hamstring strain that kept him out of the West Ham defeat.

However, right-back Kiko Femenia will be set for a spell on the sidelines having picked up a hamstring problem against the Hammers, while former Spurs left-back Danny Rose remains out with a knee injury.

Goalkeeper Ben Foster is still out with a groin injury despite being ahead of schedule for a return, while Christian Kabasele is only due back in training next week following a calf problem.

Elsewhere, long-term injured players Ismaila Sarr, Kwadwo Baah, Nicolas Nkoulou and Peter Etebo are all continuing their rehabilitation, as are the respective players still under Covid-19 isolation protocols.

Spurs Web Opinion

It appears that Watford have a number of players out, with Sarr the obvious key player to be missing the game this weekend. But as always, opposing players being out shouldn’t determine how Spurs set up, so Conte will need to keep the team fully focused for this one.

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