Watford and West Ham collide at Vicarage Road as both teams go in search of their first Premier League win of the season.
A win will see Watford move out of the relegation zone whilst West Ham could move up the order if they can take their first victory of the season.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesWatford could be without Abdoulaye Doucoure and Roberto Pereyra as the pair struggle with respective ankle and thigh injuries.
Captain, Troy Deeney is ruled out until late October after needing knee surgery meaning that summer signing, Ismaila Sarr could be in line for his first league start.
Adalberto Penaranda (thigh) and Tom Dele-Bashiru (fitness) are also ruled out for the Hornets.
West Ham are set to welcome Sebastien Haller and Felipe Anderson back into the starting eleven after knocks sidelined the pair last weekend.
Mark Noble is in line for his first competitive appearance of the season, having spent the last month sidelined with a calf injury picked up in pre-season.
Winston Reid therefore remains the Hammers’ only long-term absentee as he continues a slow recovery from a serious knee injury.
Form
Watford enter this match winless in their two opening league games, having conceded four goals in total across both fixtures.
West Ham recovered from their opening day 5-0 battering by Manchester City to earn a 1-1 draw at Brighton last weekend.
Stat Attack
- Watford have avoided defeat in four of their last six meetings with West Ham (W3, D1, L2).
- Watford’s Gerard Deulofeu scored in both meetings against West Ham last season as the Hornets took a win and defeat from those games.
- Mark Noble netted a brace here in May as he became the first player since David Cross in February 1981 to score twice against Watford at Vicarage Road in a single match.
- West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski has conceded six goals already this season, more than any other goalkeeper in the top flight.
- Jose Holebas is the only Watford player to produce double digit crosses, having made 15 crosses in their first two matches of this season.
Prediction
Both teams are currently underperforming and if Watford are without Doucoure and Pereyra, I am struggling to see how they could beat West Ham who look much stronger going forward than they did last season but are terrible defensively.
Although both teams should score here, I am going for an away win.
Prediction: Watford 1-2 West Ham United
Result: Watford 1-3 West Ham United