Looking to keep their impressive unbeaten home record intact, Watford will host playoff-chasing rivals West Bromwich Albion to Vicarage Road for a Championship clash on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets could only manage a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Hull City earlier in the week, whilst the Baggies enjoyed a much-needed triumph over Coventry City in the Black Country.
Match preview
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After a lacklustre 15th-placed finish in the Championship during the 2023-24 term - the club's lowest placement in over a decade - Watford are currently defying pre-season expectations, with Sunday's hosts at Vicarage Road making a genuine charge for the playoff spots.
The Hornets are five matches without defeat after a Wednesday night jaunt to MKM Stadium, where Rocco Vata's maiden goal for the Hertfordshire outfit rescued a point against Hull City, who experienced their first match with former Reading boss Ruben Selles at the helm.
Despite an excellent run of just the single loss across their last eight second-tier battles, there are worries that Watford could be performing even better, with some pundits and supporters alike criticising Tom Cleverley's apparent safety-first approach to recent contests.
Nevertheless, such methods have yielded a respectable tally of nine points from the last five games, meaning that the Hornets are within striking distance of the playoff positions ahead of this weekend's clash, one point behind sixth-placed West Brom in the Championship table.
On the contrary to their inconsistent and leaky form on the road, Watford are relishing an excellent string of results in front of their home faithful in the Championship, with Cleverley's troops unbeaten and collecting 23 points across nine Vicarage Road bouts so far in 2024-25.
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Following a freakish run of 11 draws from 12 Championship matches, West Bromwich Albion earned their seventh win of the league campaign on Wednesday night, when Midlands neighbours Coventry suffered their maiden defeat of the Frank Lampard era despite creating the majority of the chances at The Hawthorns.
A surprise star for the Baggies during the opening months of the season, Karlan Grant bagged his fifth second-tier goal of the term against the Sky Blues after a deflected strike from Alex Mowatt commenced the scoring in the Black Country, meaning that Albion enjoyed their biggest win since the 3-0 thrashing of Portsmouth on September 15.
Losing just two of their first 20 matches of the league schedule, it is no surprise that West Brom are competing near the top of the division, but a record-breaking 11 draws have left Carlos Corberan's side hanging onto the playoff spots, just a single point ahead of seventh-placed Middlesbrough.
Despite Watford's formidable home record, the Baggies should be quietly confident of posting a positive result at Vicarage Road considering that they have been defeated once across 10 Championship outings this term, with only Burnley (4) conceding fewer than Albion's nine away goals.
Arguably the only man with a remote chance of stopping Borja Sainz's stroll towards the second-tier Golden Boot, West Brom's Josh Maja has stepped up admirably following attacking injuries and departures over the summer, with the 25-year-old scoring 10 goals in 20 league appearances to date.
Team News
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Watford are sweating over the fitness of ex-West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna, who could miss a good chunk of the festive schedule due to a hamstring issue.
As a result, Francisco Sierralta is expected to keep his spot in the centre of the Hornets' back three, with Matthew Pollock and Ryan Porteous on either side of the Chilean.
After adopting a conservative approach on Humberside earlier in the week, Cleverley could unleash the likes of Kwadwo Baah and goalscorer Vata from the start this weekend.
West Brom attacker Grady Diangana remains a doubt because of a calf strain, with the tricky winger missing the last five Championship matches.
Keeping a clean sheet against Coventry on Wednesday night, the Baggies should stick with a centre-back pairing of Torbjorn Heggem and Mason Holgate.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Porteous, Sierralta, Pollock; Andrews, Louza, Ebosele, Morris; Baah, Chakvetadze, Bayo
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Furlong, Holgate, Heggem, Styles; Fellows, Molumby, Mowatt, Johnston; Maja, Grant
We say: Watford 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Looking to extend their Championship unbeaten run at Vicarage Road to 10 matches for the season, Watford will pose a serious test for West Brom this weekend.
The Baggies were arguably lucky to win by two goals against Coventry last time out, and we reckon that the visitors will have to fight extremely hard for a point at Vicarage Road.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
