Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 22 February 2024 Watford face Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon, hoping for a win to remain in the Championship playoff chase.
Meanwhile, the visitors travel to Vicarage Road with only two points above the relegation zone, despite an improving run of form.
When Watford’s head coach suffers four consecutive defeats, he is normally fired, but Valerien Ismael has not been.
Despite defeats to Cardiff City, Southampton, Leicester City, and Norwich City in the space of 11 days, the Hornets hierarchy has remained unaffected.
In response, Watford returned to winning ways last weekend, defeating bottom-place Rotherham United 1-0, their first win since January 14.
Given the opponents, Ismael will not get carried away, especially with Watford already 10 points behind the top six in the league.
Nonetheless, with a favorable fixture schedule ahead of them, the groundwork has been created for them to take off in the coming weeks during a crucial phase in their season.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield have recently appointed another German manager, Andre Breitenreiter, who formerly managed Hoffenheim.
Jon Worthington stayed in charge for last week’s home game against Hull City, which the Terriers lost 2-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium.
All eyes will now be on Breitenreiter as he attempts to steer the Yorkshire team away from relegation, with a two-point gap to 22nd place.
However, prior to their last-gasp defeat to Hull, Huddersfield had won two of their previous three games, and there will be hope that they can defeat Watford despite being without an away win since November 29.
Team News
Mattie Pollock should continue to play in the centre of the Watford defence as Ryan Porteous serves the second of a two-game suspension.
Although Jake Livermore and Emmanuel Dennis are vying for starting positions, Ismael may be willing to stick with the same Watford XI.
Huddersfield’s first starting lineup under Brietenreiter is relatively unknown, but the new manager would have been pleased with several facets of their performance the previous time out.
Brahima Diarra assisted the equaliser against Hull and might be recalled at the expense of either Alex Matos or Ben Wiles.
Delano Burgzorg or Danny Ward may also get the nod over Josh Koroma, who struggled against the Tigers.
Watford’s likely starting lineup: Hamer; Dele-Bashiru, Pollock, Hoedt, Lewis; Sierralta; Asprilla, Kayembe, Kone, Sema; Rajovic.
Huddersfield Town’s potential starting lineup: Nicholls; Pearson, Balker, Lees, Spencer; Hogg, Matos; Rudoni, Diarra, Thomas; Burgzorg
Leave a Reply