WATFORD v NORWICH CITY Vicarage Road Stadium Saturday 15th October 2022 Kick Off : 1945 BST please log in to view this image When both sides were relegated, many looked forward to this fixture as it would showcase Premier League players who would be fighting it out at the top of the Championship. Although Norwich have started well, Watford have not, and many fans have been attempting to put their fingers on what has gone wrong. Although Slaven Bilic is by no means under immediate pressure, the new manager bounce associated with a change of coaching setup is yet to be experienced for a club that expect an instant return to the top flight following relegation from the Premier League last year. The Hornets currently sit a lowly 14th place in the Championship, and are seven points adrift of the automatic promotion places many backed the club to be occupying at this stage in the season. A poor defensive record will have to be amended if they are to ascend the table, with Watford conceding at least twice in four of their last five matches. Norwich City saw a nine-game unbeaten run come to an end last Saturday as they lost 3-2 to Preston North End in a dramatic encounter at Carrow Road. The match was the first time The Canaries have let in three goals in a single game, something that will worry Dean Smith heading into this weekend. The East-Anglia side still find themselves in second place despite that recent defeat, with the quality littered throughout the Norwich squad pointing towards another promotion to the Premier League, something that has become a biannual move for the club in its recent history. Norwich have one of the best attacking records in the division this year but have only managed six goals in as many away matches. Despite this, a cause of concern for Watford will be that Norwich have scored in their last 12 league games, with Cardiff City way back in July the only side to keep out Smith's side in the current season. Team News None available yet. Our officials DARREN ENGLAND please log in to view this image James Mainwaring and Wade Smith Fourth Official: Sebastian Stockbridge
"...The Canaries have let in three goals in a single game, something that will worry Dean Smith heading into this weekend...." The more suprising thing is that Preston scored the 3 goals increasing their GF total by 60% !
Not sure whether Preston was a blip or not. We've been playing not especially well but getting results. The Blades seem to be in a slump and that will surely give hope to other teams in the top half. An interesting season, I'm not bothered if we get promotion or not. Given our record we would most likely finish bottom again. Good luck for the rest of the season.
Bit of #watfordfc injury news: Kabasele (hamstring), Sierralta (hamstring), Hause (knee), Ngakia (hamstring), Cleverley (Achilles), Manaj (hamstring) all def out. Pedro will be involved, late check on Cathcart and Gaspar.
WOW, all those Hammy injuries!!! seems to have been an injury that has plagued over many a season - something not right with conditioning. I think i read here someone suggesting that too much emphasis might be on strength training in the Gym with a lack of regard for flexibility. someone needs to get a grip on this. As for Hause - what a shame, but another example of us signing a player that is clearly not fit to play in games
You'd think that with all those injured defenders we'd qualify to make a couple of emergency loans. Maybe we should have offered Mariappa a short term contract...
Apparently suffered when chasing back for Blackpool's 2nd goal which would kind of make sense but many aren't convinced and think it's a bit of a made up excuse to cover for the incident. Good to see Pedro back - him, Sarr, Davis and Louza might work well together. But then no point in them making chances if we aren't going to defend well. I thought at the time they said Cleverley was only going to be a few days/weeks?
Well at least they would be ok at passing the ball around unlike our usual defence ! Sarr could use his pace. Davis be the physical one (more so than the real defenders ) Pedro doesn’t mind getting stuck in and Louza too. The Norwich fans aren’t totally having the general negative attitude from our fans - still expecting a tough game .
So that’s this? ……………..………Davis Sema…………..Asprilla……….…..Sarr ………..…Louza……Choudhury Kamara….Cathcart…Troost-E….Gosling ………………Bachmann The only thing about Bilic’s use of the back four that worries me (injuries etc. is not his fault) is that, when playing out from the back, our CBs go very wide, our FBs push up very quick and we find it difficult to get out of that defensive third. Almost feels like a back two! And when CBs that wide lose the ball…
