Watford v Wolves. The international break is coming to a close and the Prem rolls back around. Wolves have lost their three Premiership games one nil, despite playing well according to the reports I have read. They have a new manager, Bruno Lage, and Jimenez is back, but hopefully he'll forget the lucha libre mask. Wolves, like us, won in the league cup though. Watford have picked up one win in three in the league and lost their last two. Muñoz has a mostly new midfield (Etebo, Kucka, Sissoko Tufan & Louza is a big revamp) and attack (King, The Menace & Fletcher) to work with. We have lost our club captain and two midfielders who did well last season, plus other squad members have left. I feel this is a new era after Deeney et al's exits and the midfield needs time to gel properly. Time is a hard thing to find in the Prem mind, and the mission to stay up or even push on is well and truly on. We need to win our home games and mistakes need to be eliminated. It can be a sharp learning curve back in the Prem. We need to get something from this game to keep the points slowly racking up. Wolves will want to get back on track and I expect a tight game. Norwich away, Stoke in the cup, then Newcastle follow for the Hornets. Although, this season should be taken one game at a time I fear, and no loss of motivation despite some enivitable results is key to keeping things going. Hopefully, this can happen on Saturday. ¡¡COYH COYH COYH!! Team news to follow: Maybe, there will be some changes with Internationals getting in the way of thigs and usual.
Anyone know for certain if Sierralta will be missing? What about Sarr will he be isolating? Any others likely to be missing due to int’l break?
Looks like the realisation has hit home with them... https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sp...news/wolves-raul-jimenez-mexico-fifa-21514171 Reminds me of the time we played Southampton in the League Cup (that match) - they were all cranky because Kevin Keegan had been injured and couldn't play - no concern for us being in the same boat with John Ward injured...
Striker João Pedro, who has been out of action with a knee injury since mid-July, has returned to full training with the team over the last week and will be assessed ahead of the weekend. Goalkeeper Ben Foster missed the trip to Tottenham a fortnight ago and will once again be on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. He is due to return to training next week. Defender Kiko Femenía is still working with the medical team to recover full fitness from the groin injury he suffered at the end of last season. He has undergone an intense period of work over the international break however he won't be available this weekend. In light of the ongoing issues regarding players called up for international duty in purely red list countries, the Hornets remain (along with their fellow Premier League clubs) in discussion with relevant stakeholders regarding Francisco Sierralta’s availability for this weekend’s fixture.
Good news - Sierralta will be available to play after EPL clubs agree to defy FIFA. Well, according to the Sun - so may not be entirely accurate. https://www.football365.com/news/premier-league-defy-fifa-banned-liverpool-alisson-fabinho-ederson
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/10/watford-wolves-match-preview-premier-league WATFORD Subs from Elliot, Ngakia, Fletcher, Gray, Success, Baah, Hernández, Pedro, Tufan Well they royally ****ed that one, didn't they?
There are a few variations of this being spread around - Premier League clubs were set to ignore FIFA and allow those players involved to play anyway, this one from AL which mentions 'constructive talks' with the Chile FA, and now the Wobby are crediting "positive signals and constructive dialogue FIFA has received from the UK government towards the international match window in October" - which suggests that those involved will be travelling in October regardless of what restrictions/quarantine requirements are in force at the time. Presumably, players will be deemed to be politicians and able to travel anywhere. It's hard to know what to believe...
Probably the strongest team possible - and I doubt we've ever had a stronger bench. Just need them all to gel now.
