Watford vs. Southampton
Venue: Vicarage Road
Kick off: 3PM
Watford will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League victories when they continue their 2021-22 campaign at home to Southampton this afternoon.
The Hornets, who sit 14th in the table, recorded a 5-2 win over Everton at Goodison Park last weekend, while 16th-placed Southampton played out a 2-2 draw with Burnley in their last league match.
Claudio Ranieri’s first match in charge of Watford suggested that it could be a long and difficult season, with the Hornets losing 5-0 at home to the Reds, but the Italian managed to lead his side to a 5-2 win over Everton at Goodison Park last weekend to boost confidence at Vicarage Road.
Watford have an incredibly difficult run of matches coming up, taking on Arsenal, Manchester United, Leicester City, Chelsea and Manchester City in five straight fixtures after the clash with Southampton, which is an indication of the importance of this weekend’s contest against one of the teams around them in the table.
A record of three wins, one draw and five defeats from nine matches has seen the Hornets collect 10 points, which has left them in 14th spot in the table, six points above the relegation zone.
Watford have not won at Vicarage Road since the opening weekend of the season, though, collecting just one point from their last three home league fixtures against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle and Liverpool.
The Hertfordshire outfit have won just one of their last 13 league meetings with Southampton, meanwhile, and lost both games against the Saints when they locked horns during the 2019-20 Premier League campaign.
Southampton, meanwhile, will enter this afternoon’s contest off the back of a penalty-shootout defeat to Chelsea in the last-16 stage of the EFL Cup on Tuesday; the two teams played out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge before the hosts triumphed 4-3 on spot kicks.
Ralph Hasenhuttl will have been pleased with his side’s performance despite the defeat, and the Saints have also picked up four points from their last two Premier League matches, recording a 1-0 win over Leeds United on October 16 before playing out a 2-2 draw with Burnley last weekend.
Southampton came from behind to lead against the Clarets in Hampshire, but Maxwel Cornet’s second of the match for Sean Dyche’s side allowed the points to be shared at St Mary’s.
Hasenhuttl’s team have won one, drawn five and lost three of their nine league games this season to collect eight points, which has left them down in 16th position in the table, two points behind their opponents here.
As mentioned above, the Saints have a strong recent record against Watford and have not actually lost to the Hornets since a Premier League clash at St Mary’s towards the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
Watford possible XI: Foster, Ngakia, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Masina, Sarr, Kucka, Sissoko, Tufan, Hernandez, King.
Southampton possible XI: McCarthy, Livramento, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud, S Armstrong, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo, Redmond, Adams.