Watford and Crystal Palace temporarily take a break from Premier League action to resume hostilities in the EFL Cup second round on Tuesday at Vicarage Road.
Xisco Munoz's side welcome the Eagles to their headquarters after being sunk 2-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, while Palace's battle with Brentford ended goalless.
Match preview
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The Hornets' sting lost its potency against the Seagulls during Saturday's battle on the South Coast, as Watford were quickly brought back down to earth following their 3-2 success over Aston Villa with a 2-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
The rejuvenated Shane Duffy opened the scoring with 10 minutes gone before Neal Maupay doubled Brighton's advantage just before the half-time whistle blew, and for all of their attacking prowess on gameweek one, Watford had no answer to their hosts' staunch rearguard action.
Despite the result, Munoz was able to take the positives from his side's reaction in the second 45 while also lamenting a poor display in the opening exchanges, and another daunting away test in the form of Tottenham Hotspur follows for the Hornets after their midweek cup clash.
The second-round curse bedevilled Watford four years in a row in the EFL Cup between 2014 and 2018, but they have at least managed to progress past this stage in each of the last three seasons, although the less said about last season's third-round exit to Newport County the better.
En route to the fourth round in the 2019-20 season, Watford claimed a pair of home victories over Coventry City and Swansea City, but seven of their last eight EFL Cup ties against Premier League opposition have seen them come out on the wrong end of the scoreline.
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Having been humbled on the opening day by European champions Chelsea, Crystal Palace sought to make amends at Selhurst Park against newly-promoted Brentford, but once again they failed to make the net ripple as the two sides shook hands on a point apiece.
Patrick Vieira's first point at home left the former Arsenal captain with mixed feelings following back-to-back games without a goal, but he was nonetheless able to hail his side "positive attitude" as fans returned to Selhurst Park en masse for the first time since the first coronavirus lockdown.
Now winless in three competitive matches away from home, Palace will aim to reverse a worrying trend of bowing out of the EFL Cup without scoring - doing so in the past two seasons on penalties to Colchester United and Bournemouth - and they have not suffered three consecutive second-round exits since the 2010-11 season.
Palace did secure a 3-1 friendly success over Watford earlier this month, but the two sides have not locked horns in the EFL Cup for 45 years, with the Hornets winning a second-round tie 3-1 in the 1976-77 season.
The Eagles did manage to claim a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park during the side's most recent clash in March 2020, but they are winless in five at Vicarage Road and are yet to find their shooting boots in the early stages of the 2021-22 season.
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Team News
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Watford new boy Juraj Kucka's start to life in England has already been halted by a thigh problem, and the veteran midfielder is unlikely to be risked here, while Nathaniel Chalobah is ill and Joao Pedro continues to rehabilitate after a knee injury.
With bountiful changes on the cards ahead of a trip to Spurs, 38-year-old Ben Foster could find himself in between the sticks, while Danny Rose and Jeremy Ngakia will hope to occupy the full-back areas.
Munoz has attacking options aplenty in his ranks and will consider giving starts to Josh King and Troy Deeney in the second round, while 18-year-old winger Kwadwo Baah should also earn some valuable minutes alongside new arrival Ozan Tufan.
Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic is still absent due to personal reasons, while Nathan Ferguson, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze complete a trio of injury absentees for Vieira's visitors.
Youngsters Tyrick Mitchell and Marc Guehi could remain in the rearguard, but with rotation also set to strike for Palace, Martin Kelly, James Tomkins and Jack Butland could find themselves in the first XI.
The Eagles are rumoured to be closing in on a deal to bring Will Hughes to the club from Watford, but the wantaway midfielder will not join in time to face off against his former employers.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Foster; Ngakia, Cathcart, Sierralta, Rose; Cleverley, Tufan, Louza; Sarr, Deeney, Baah
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Butland; Kelly, Tomkins, Guehi, Mitchell; Riedewald, Gallagher, Schlupp; Ayew, Mateta, Zaha
We say: Watford 1-1 Crystal Palace (Palace to win on penalties)
A cup run may not be all that high on either manager's priority lists, although Vieira may take the competition more seriously than his counterpart Munoz as the Hornets coach focuses on securing his side's Premier League status.
This one may go the distance with youngsters on both sides seeking to impress, but we can envisage Palace producing the goods from the penalty spot to advance to round three.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Watford win with a probability of 43.46%. A win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 31.4% and a draw had a probability of 25.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Watford win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.46%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.04%) and 2-0 (7.2%). The likeliest Crystal Palace win was 0-1 (7.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.88%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Watford in this match.
