Last season’s FA Cup runners-up, Watford kick off their new Premier League campaign at Vicarage Road against Brighton & Hove Albion, who are now under a new manager in Graham Potter.
This match will mark Potter’s return to the Premier League for the first time as a manager, having previously played in this tier with Southampton during the 1996-97 season.
Team news
Watford’s new signing, Danny Welbeck is still sidelined with an ankle injury which kept him out for majority of last season at Arsenal.
Gerard Deulofeu is available after recovering from a muscle issue whilst Roberto Pereyra could play despite featuring for Argentina at the Copa America this summer.
Craig Dawson and Ismaila Sarr could both make their competitive debuts here after signing for the Hornets this summer.
Tom Dele-Bashiru, Nathaniel Chalobah (both fitness), Dimitri Foulquier (calf) and Adalberto Penaranda (thigh) meanwhile won’t feature this weekend but are expected to be ready for next Saturday’s trip to Everton.
Brighton have no fresh injury concerns as Jose Izquierdo (knee), Yves Bissouma (shoulder) and Ezequiel Schelotto (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) all remain ruled out.
Potter could therefore hand Neal Maupay, Adam Webster, Leandro Trossard and Aaron Mooy their competitive debuts for the Seagulls.
Form
Watford enter this match off the back of just four pre-season friendlies but they scored in all four outings, with Andre Gray as top scorer after netting four goals which included a brace last weekend against Real Sociedad.
Brighton meanwhile lost just one of their pre-season friendlies as Glenn Murray (3), Jurgen Locadia (2) and Shane Duffy (2) were the only three to score more than once.
Stat Attack
- Watford have lost just one of four Premier League clashes with Brighton (W1, D2, L1).
- The Hornets are currently unbeaten in eight of their last nine meetings with Brighton across all competitions (W4, D4, L1).
- These sides met here on the opening weekend last season as Watford ran out 2-0 winners through Pereyra’s brace.
- Watford are unbeaten in their last four opening weekend fixtures (W1, D3), scoring at least twice in three of those opening fixtures with the exception coming in August 2016 when they drew 1-1 at Southampton.
- Brighton are yet to win an opening weekend fixture in the Premier League, losing their two such games by 2-0 results against Manchester City (2017) and Watford (2018).
Prediction
After a promising summer of investment, Brighton really need a good start after collecting just two league victories so far in 2019 but I can’t see Watford rolling over here given their quality.
Add in their pace down the flanks and lack of pre-season friendlies which means more freshness, I can therefore see Watford making two consecutive opening weekend victories over Brighton.
Prediction: Watford 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Result: Watford 0-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
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