MX23RW : Monday, September 30 19:06:19| >> :120:45368:45368:
[monks data]
Watford logo
Championship
Apr 5, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Burnley logo

1-1

Deeney (9')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Arfield (86')

Preview: Watford vs. Burnley

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Watford and Burnley at Vicarage Road.

Burnley's long unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of leaders Leicester City last weekend, and they will be keen to get straight back to winning ways when they face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

The Foxes handed Sean Dyche's side their first defeat in 17 Championship matches to all but end any hopes the Clarets had of challenging for the title, with seven points now separating the two teams.

However, Burnley's slip-up was not capitalised on by Queens Park Rangers, leaving them nine points clear of the Hoops and almost guaranteed automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Dyche will want to get their promotion confirmed as quickly as possible, however, and ensuring that the defeat to Leicester was a blip rather than the beginning of a dip in form will be crucial to that.

Doing so will be more difficult than usual, however, due to the season-ending injury suffered by Sam Vokes, who joins strike partner Danny Ings on the sidelines.

The Clarets have alternated between draws and victories on the road in recent weeks, but no team has managed to beat them away from home in the league since the turn of the year, with their last defeat coming on Boxing Day.

In addition to the absence of their devastating duo up front, Burnley will also be without Kieran Trippier and Dean Marney, while Ashley Barnes could lead the line alone.

For Watford, the remaining seven games are very much a case of looking towards next season and gearing themselves up for a playoff charge in Giuseppe Sannino's first full season at the helm.

Any flickering embers of playoff hopes were kept alive with an impressive 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, leaving them eight points behind the top six with a game in hand over the teams above them.

Their goal difference is also in their favour if they can string a run of victories together at the end of the season, but there are still a number of teams better placed than them and it would take an unlikely set of results for them to make a late push for the playoffs.

They would certainly need to show more consistency than they have in recent weeks, with three wins, three defeats and two draws in their last eight matches.

The Hornets have been in superb form at home, however, going seven matches without defeat and only seeing their six-game winning streak without conceding come to an end last Tuesday in a 3-3 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

Watford have no new injury concerns to worry about, so Sannino could opt to name an unchanged side to the one that beat Sheffield Wednesday so comfortably.

Recent form

Watford: WLWLDW

Burnley: WDWWWL

Possible starting lineups

Watford: Almunia; Doyley, Angella, Ekstrand; Anya, McGugan, Battochio, Tozser, Pudil; Deeney, Ranegie

Burnley: Heaton; Baird, Shackell, Duff, Mee; Jones, Arfield; Kightly, Wallace, Stanislas; Barnes

Sports Mole says: 2-2


ID:147914: cacheID:147914:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5473:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Leicester's Chris Wood is congratulated by teammates after scoring the opening goal against Watford on November 2, 2013
Read Next:
Match Analysis: Burnley 0-2 Leicester
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Bills
10-35
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom7511125716
2Sunderland7502146815
3Blackburn RoversBlackburn7430146815
4Burnley7421134914
5Leeds UnitedLeeds7421124814
6Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd743093613
7Watford74121210213
8Middlesbrough732285311
9Swansea CitySwansea732285311
10Norwich CityNorwich7322119211
11Oxford UnitedOxford Utd7313108210
12Hull City72329819
13Derby CountyDerby7304101009
14Bristol City7232913-49
15Millwall7223121028
16Plymouth ArgylePlymouth7223811-38
17Queens Park RangersQPR7142811-37
18Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds7214914-57
19Luton TownLuton7214611-57
20Stoke CityStoke7205411-76
21Coventry CityCoventry7124611-55
22Preston North EndPreston7124412-85
23Portsmouth7043713-64
24Cardiff CityCardiff7016217-151


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!