EFL Cup: Tottenham Hotspur vs Watford Match Betting Tips

EFL Cup 2018-19 – Tottenham Hotspur vs Watford Betting Preview


One of the top matches of round 3 in the Carabao Cup! It’s Tottenham taking on one of the surprise packages of the season Watford at the stadium MK in Milton Keynes. Tottenham are coming into this match having snapped their 3-match losing streak which indeed began against Watford in the league when they lost 2-1 so there could be some thoughts of revenge coming into this cup tie. Watford themselves have hit a bit of a rut having lost 1 and drawn 1 ever since their win over Spurs which was always expected. Can Watford stun Tottenham again or will we see Spurs get their revenge?

Key Facts

Tottenham are not playing at their new stadium nor Wembley for this tie, this match will be played in Milton Keynes as mentioned. It is treated as Spurs home game though so the support should be on their side.

Tottenham have won all 6 of their previous home matches against Watford. 5 of those 6 by 2+ goals. Dominant

This is the first time these teams meeting in the Carabao Cup in 10 years. Spurs won away at Watford 1-2 the last time in 2008.

All 7 Tottenham games have an over 2.5 goals mark hit this season.

Erik Lamela has came off the bench and scored in his previous 2 league matches. He’s expected to start here and will be a danger man.

Tottenham have only kept ONE clean sheet this season.

4 of Watford’s 7 matches this season have had an over 2.5 goals mark hit in all comps. They’ve kept 2 clean sheets this season.

Watford are yet to lose an away game this season. 2W 1D.

Pereyra x3, Gray x3 and Deeney x2 are Watford’s top 3 scorers this season

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur: One player that we should not expect to play at all is Harry Kane as he’s played a lot of football in recent months therefore either Son will start up front, or Llorente will get his chance. We can expect Dele Alli to make a start given that he’s playing where he came through from as a player in Milton Keynes and he’s trying to get back to full fitness. We should expect Pochettino to rotate his squad for this match given that it’s the Carabao Cup just like every other big club will do and the likes of Lamela, Wanyama, Sissoko, Aurier, Winks, Sanchez are all expected to make a start for Tottenham. On paper, Pochettino should still be able to field a very strong side it’s just that main men like Eriksen, Lucas, Kane, Vertonghen are not expected to start or feature at all in general. Lloris is still injured, Vorm could be out too so Gazzaniga may start again in goal.

Watford: Watford are also expected to make changes to their starting line-up. Javi Garcia did reiterate that he’ll treat this match like a final but let’s be honest the likes of Deeney, Pereyra, Gray etc will all probably sit on the bench or be out. In the previous round against Reading, Javi Garcia fielded a full 2nd string 11 and they performer really well. The likes of Isaac Success, Trevor Chalobah, Quina, Mariappa, Wilmot etc. all got to start and did well enough to win comfortably. We’ll most likely see similar amount of rotation from Javi Garcia again as Watford will try to upset Tottenham for the second time in 3 weeks.

Betting Tips and Predictions

Spurs should win this game in our eyes. If we get two rotated sides which is the most likely scenario then Spurs will win for sure, their strength in depth is just much better than Watford’s plus this is played on a neutral field where Spurs are expected to have more supporters so it’ll feel like a home game. Goals overs and BTTS are also worth the look. Over 3 goals at 1.85 and BTTS at 1.67 although the odds are a little low should both come through pretty nicely. We expect Watford to definitely put one past Spurs given Spurs poor record at keeping clean sheets while Tottenham themselves should be able to score 2-3 goals with the likes of Lamela, Alli and Son going forward. Lamela to score anytime is worth the look too given his recent form and how impactful he’s been for Tottenham especially in his last 3 appearances. We’re looking at a 3-1 Tottenham win here. Watford are going slowly sink back to reality.

Match Odds (TonyBet)

Tottenham Hotspur Win – 1.42

Draw – 4.70

Watford Win – 6.65

KICK OFF – 26th September 2018 – 8pm UK Time