Saturday 6 February 2016 19:33, UK
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores believes Tottenham have everything needed to finish the season as Premier League champions.
The Spaniard saw his side beaten 1-0 at White Hart Lane as Heurelho Gomes made a string of saves to keep the Hornets in the contest.
Kieran Trippier's goal just after the hour proved enough for Spurs to take all three points and Flores was impressed by what he saw of Mauricio Pochettino's team.
"Their performance is always of a high level, they have a clear plan in the match and repeat every time the plan," he said.
"They are doing well and, for me, they are one of the candidates for the title.
"They have improved a lot. When we played against them at Vicarage Road the match was more even, today it was impossible.
"I felt during the match that we had few chances to get any points. It is normal, they are Tottenham and their target is to be at the top, our target is to survive."
Asked whether Tottenham could go all the way and win the league, Flores replied: "Why not? They have a good team, great players, power - they have everything to be the champions."
As for his own side, the former Atletico Madrid boss admitted it was a tough day as they struggled to get out of their own half for long spells.
"A very difficult afternoon, a very difficult match - from the start they were pressing a lot in our part of the pitch," Flores explained.
"We had to defend deep, we didn't have the possibility to regain the ball and counter-attack, they regained the ball really, really quick and we had to defend again."
Indeed, without the excellent work of Gomes between the sticks, Tottenham could have won by a far greater margin, a fact not lost on Flores.
"We feel safe with Heurelho. He is having an amazing season so we are happy with him," he added.
"We are now in balance with the number of goals we have scored and we have conceded, we are at zero [goal difference], and after 25 matches I think this is the reason. We are defending well as a team, playing well as a block and we have a very good goalkeeper."
