Antonio Conte's Tottenham Hotspur side kicked off 2022 in perfect fashion against Watford on Saturday afternoon, with Davinson Sanchez's 96th-minute header being enough to see Spurs take all three points home from Vicarage Road.

Indeed, the 1-0 scoreline flattered the hosts somewhat, with Tottenham dominating possession of the ball 74% to 26%, as well as taking a total of 21 shots in comparison to Watford's nine and creating two big chances to the Hornets' none.

As is perhaps to be expected after such a performance, a number of Conte's players turned in impressive displays against the Premier League strugglers, with Sanchez, Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane all catching the eye with their efforts on the day.

However, while match-winner Sanchez will undoubtedly have stolen the headlines on Sunday morning, it was the dominating performance of one of his fellow centre-backs that will have pleased the Italian manager most when looking back on the fixture - in the shape of Ben Davies.

58% duels won

Indeed, once again being deployed on the left of Conte's defensive three, Davies ran the show for Spurs from the back, with the £16.2m-rated 28-year-old enjoying 94 touches of the ball - the fifth-most of any player in the match - completing 73 passes - one of which was key - and finding his man with two of his three attempted crosses and five of his seven attempted through balls.

The £93k-per-week defender also won seven of his 12 duels - a success rate of 58% - made three tackles and had two shots at the Watford goal, with these returns seeing the Wales international earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.5 - ranking him as Tottenham's joint fourth-best performer on the day.

Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold also appeared to be impressed with the display of the Wales international against the Hornets, awarding the left-back a seven in his own player ratings, as well as stating of his efforts: "Defended well and tried to support [Sergio] Reguilon down the left whenever he could."

As such, while reports have suggested that Conte is looking for a new left-sided centre-back in the January transfer window, Davies' performance on Saturday may just have been good enough to alter the 52-year-old's plans for the position going forwards - as the 28-year-old undoubtedly ran the show for his side against Watford.

In other news: Lost the ball every 5.4 touches: £62k-p/w Spurs flop proved he's still "miles off it"