Odds have moved against Tottenham on Saturday, to open up further value on hosts as they face one of the promoted sides, Watford.

Spurs are currently in honey-moon period under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. They’ve run out of the blocks in 2021/22 campaign taking 2 wins in as many games in EPL and are yet to concede a goal. Santo is known for his pragmatic, balanced and defensive-oriented football. The characteristics that made a lot of people sceptical about his assignment to the Tottenham head coach role.

Nobody will mind, really, if Santo eventually continues taking narrow wins in EPL and stays inside the top 4 for a Champions League finish. Indeed, Tottenham have shown peculiar results so far, finishing 3 of their 4 games in the new season with a clean sheet.

This week they’ve been given a real morale boost when top scorer and assist provider of the previous campaign, Harry Kane, announced he’d be staying at the club. He returned to action in the 2nd leg fixture against Pacos Ferreira (3:0) and immediately started doing what he does best - 2 goals in a 72 minute spell.

The player who seems to have benefited most from the change of faces on the bench is Dele Alli. The attacking central midfielder delivered two strong games against Man City and Wolves, albeit not getting on the scoresheet. The talented 25 year old Alli looks set to relaunch his career under Santo after a period of stagnation under former gaffer Jose Mourinho.

In addition to all the positives around Tottenham, we mustn’t forget the home advantage factor. 58 000 fans at the Man City game - an attendance big enough to intimidate any opposition.

I am not going to reflect on Watford much for they are around the same level of team, if not worse, as they were in the relegation season.

Striker Dennis, former Bundesliga side Koln; winger Sema, bench player for the Swedish National team at Euro’20. Just a couple of examples to let you realize the overall level of their squad.

After the surprising home 3:2 win over Aston Villa, Watford were seriously outplayed and deservedly defeated by Brighton in the 2nd round (0:2). Despite dropping down in score early in the 10th minute, Watford still could not get the game under control, had just 43% of the ball and managed to get only one attempt on target.

Obviously, Tottenham, in their current shape, will be an even greater test.

I can’t see Watford taking anything from this trip to London.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

热刺目前在新主帅圣埃斯皮里托的带领下正处于蜜月期。他们在2021/22赛季的封盖已经用完了，在英超的两场比赛中取得了同样多的胜利，至今还没有失球。桑托以务实、平衡和防守为主的足球而闻名。这些特质让很多人对他被任命为热刺主教练持怀疑态度。

没有人会介意，真的，如果桑托最终继续在英超取得微弱的胜利，并留在冠军联赛前四。的确，托特纳姆热刺到目前为止表现出了特殊的成绩，在新赛季的4场比赛中有3场没有失球。

本周，当上赛季的头号射手兼助攻哈里·凯恩宣布他将留在俱乐部时，他们的士气得到了真正的鼓舞。他在第二回合对阵费雷拉的比赛中复出(3:0)，并立即开始了他的最佳表现——72分钟内进了2球。

从替补席的变化中受益最大的球员似乎是德勒·阿里。这位攻击型中场在对阵曼城和狼队的两场比赛中表现出色，尽管没有进球。在经历了前主教练穆里尼奥的一段停滞期后，才华横溢的25岁的阿里看起来将在桑托手下重新开始他的职业生涯。

除了托特纳姆周围所有的积极因素，我们不能忘记主场的优势因素。5万8千名球迷观看了曼城的比赛——如此高的观众人数足以吓倒任何对手。

我不会对沃特福德进行太多的评价，因为他们现在的水平和降级赛季差不多，甚至更差。

前锋丹尼斯，前德甲科隆队;边锋塞马，瑞典国家队20年欧锦赛的替补球员。只是几个例子，让你了解他们球队的整体水平。

在主场3:2意外击败阿斯顿维拉后，沃特福德在第二轮被布赖顿击败(0:2)。尽管在第10分钟开始时比分有所下降，但沃特福德仍然无法控制比赛，他的控球率仅为43%，而且只尝试了一次射门。

显然，托特纳姆，在他们目前的状态下，将是一个更大的考验。