Tottenham Hotspur moved into second place in the Premier League as they edged past London rivals Watford.

Keiran Trippier scored his first goal for the club after good play from Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele left the right-back with a simple tap in.

It means Spurs leapfrog Manchester City and remain five points behind surprise leaders Leicester City.

The home side rarely let Watford have a sniff and dominated the match from first to last.

Pochettino shuffled his full backs around with Ben Davies and Trippier coming in.

Midfield sensation Dele Alli was rested as a precaution and Erik Lamela came in.

The Spurs boss will have one eye on the jam-packed schedule this month with a trip to Fiorentina and the FA Cup to think about – squad rotation will be crucial.

With a squad as thin as Spurs’ rotation can be hard to come by – Harry Kane was starting his 31st match of the campaign.

Leicester stunning Manchester City in the early kick off gave Spurs the perfect chance to consolidate their title push and move into second place.

With that in mind the home side stepped up the pressure early on as Watford sat deep and found it tough to get out their own half.

The game sprung into life after a tepid first 25 minutes when Kieran Trippier produced a delightful cross onto the head of Nacer Chadli.

But the Belgian could only steer it onto Allan Nyom who headed it clear.

The Watford full-back was in the thick of things again as he deflected Ben Davies low drive just wide of the post.

Davies tested Gomes with a low drive and Chadli cleared Lamela’s tempting cross as the home side continued to put the squeeze on Quique Sanchez Flores’ men.

It seemed to be only a matter of time before Spurs got the opening goal – Harry Kane was the next to try his luck after a Eric Dier swung in a cross but Kane skied his volley from eight yards out.

After a largely frustrating half for the home side - it was more of the same for Pochettino’s side who felt they should have had a penalty.

Gomes almost went from hero to zero when he appeared to clatter into Kane but referee Roger East was having none of it and pointed to the corner flag.

The Spurs boss threw on Dele Alli to spark inspiration and he got just that.

A lung-bursting run from Mousa Dembele who then slipped in Alli down the wing and he produced a fine outside-of-the-boot cross for Trippier to slot home.

The goal was well deserved for the incessant pressure on Watford’s goal and the home side kept on coming.

A long ball from Watford which was cut out at the last moment by Kevin Wimmer was the closest the visitors came in the first 80 minutes.

Tottenham saw out the game with relative comfort and will now have a full week to prepare for a crunch game away at Man City.

Spurs: Lloris, Trippier, Alderwiereld, Wimmer, Davies, Dier, Dembele, Lamela (Son 71’), Eriksen, Chadli (Alli 63’), Kane

Subs: Walker, Vorm, Mason, Carroll

Watford: Gomes, Nyom, Cathcart, Britos (Prodl 53’), Ake, Suarez (Behrami 45’), Watson, Capoue, Jurade, Ighalo, Abdi (Deeney 45’)

Subs: Pantilimon, Anya, Holebas, Amrabat,