Tottenham confirmed line-up: Star man returns to avert crisis v Watford
By Harry Sykes
Mauricio Pochettino has been forced to make changes to the team that beat Southampton 4-1 after suspensions to key defenders Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen.
Both players picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season in the game – the last before their previous cards would have been ‘wiped’.
It could have spelt a defensive crisis but, thankfully for Spurs, star defender Toby Alderweireld has been ruled fit to return, and he lines-up alongside Kevin Wimmer.
Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose make up the defence, with captain Hugo Lloris in goal.
The team news was announced on the official Tottenham Twitter page.
Heung-Min Son claims a starting place at the expense of Moussa Sissoko who drops to the bench and Eric Dier moves back into midfield.
Tottenham will be in a confident mood for their first game of 2017 after recording three consecutive Premier League victories, including an impressive 4-1 win against Southampton last time out.
By contrast Watford are in pretty miserable form and without a win in their last three, after suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss to struggling Sunderland, losing to Man City and claiming a point against Crystal Palace.
Spurs will leapfrog bitter rivals Arsenal into fourth with a win but the Gunners play Crystal Palace in the tea-time kick-off.
In other Tottenham team news, a Premier League club is eyeing a swoop for this Spurs outcast.