Watford vs. Aston Villa
Venue: Vicarage Road
Kick off: 3pm
Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo, will on Saturday (today) lead Watford’s attack to honour his late dad, Paul Ighalo, as they host relegated Aston Villa.
Top-scorer Ighalo, whose father passed away shortly after Watford’s semi-final defeat in the FA Cup, has struggled badly in recent months after bursting onto the Premier League scene in the first half of the year.
The Nigerian has averaged a goal every 1200 mins in the Premier League since the turn of the year (1 in 1200 mins), compared to a goal every 122 mins before January 1 (13 goals in 1591 mins).
The Hornets have achieved their goal of securing top-flight football for next season, but they are also licking their wounds after losing at Wembley last weekend.
Watford’s hugely impressive first half of the campaign means that they were able to go for it in the FA Cup, reaching the semi-finals before going down to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Hornets have won 13 points from their last 17 Premier League matches (W3 D4 L10), compared to a tally of 28 in their first 17 games of 2015-16 (W8 D4 L5).
At home, they are without a win in five league games and this downturn in form has led to speculation over the long-term future of manager Quique Flores.
The Villans are going down with not even a whimper. They enter this match on a 10-game losing streak now 14 points adrift at the foot of the table.
Last weekend they managed two goals for the first time in 11 matches, but they were still resoundingly beaten as Southampton put four past them at home.
Watford possible starting lineup: Gomes, Nyom, Britos, Cathcart, Ake, Guedioura, Suarez, Watson, Deeney, Jurado, Ighalo.
Villa possible starting lineup: Guzan, Hutton, Clark, Lescott, Cissokho, Sanchez, Gueye, Westwood, Bacuna, Ayew, Sinclair.