In what will be their first appearance in the second round of the EFL Cup since 2019-20, League One side MK Dons will travel to Vicarage Road on Tuesday for a date with Watford.
So far in the 2022-23 Championship, the Hornets are one of only three teams who have yet to lose, while the Dons managed the squeak past Sutton United 1-0 in their first-round encounter at this competition.
Match preview
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Early into the tenure of Rob Edwards as manager, Watford seem to be adapting quickly to his methods, currently second in the domestic table with nine points.
His arm-around-the-shoulder approach seems to have instilled some much-needed confidence in a team that have been relegated from the top flight in England in each of their previous two appearances in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Last year they allowed the third-most goals in the Premier League (77), but they have been a lot stingier on the back end against second-tier sides, conceding only twice thus far, tied for the second-fewest in the Championship.
Watford have not lost a second-round fixture at this tournament since losing 3-2 at home to Bristol City in 2017-18, conceding only once at this stage over their previous four campaigns.
They have not conceded at home in this domestic campaign, looking sharp and well-organised along the backline against some strong teams in Sheffield United and Burnley, both of whom they defeated by a 1-0 score.
Despite a solid track record at this stage of the competition, they may be guilty of looking too far ahead in prior appearance at the EFL Cup.
Their previous two eliminations have come against sides in lower divisions, losing 3-1 at home to Stoke City last season and dropping a 3-1 decision versus Newport County in the third round of 2020-21.
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After missing out on an automatic promotion into the Championship by a single point last season, MK Dons seem to be having a hard time putting that disappointment behind them, currently sitting third from the bottom in League One.
All four of their points domestically this season have come at home, with their only clean sheet at Stadium MK coming in the opening round of this tournament when they held Sutton United to only 31% possession.
In his first season managing a senior English side, Liam Manning took the league by storm, as he was named EFL League One Manager of the Month for September 2021 after only 11 games in charge.
His team finished with 89 points, their best total in a League One season since they were promoted into the Championship in 2014-15.
The Dons are unbeaten in their last three matches in all competitions in which they have drawn first blood, though they failed to hold onto a 1-0 lead on Saturday at home to Accrington Stanley (1-1), while they have been outscored 5-0 on the road so far in this domestic campaign.
Their mid-high block system has been highly successful, while their aggressive play when off the ball proved to be an effective defensive strategy last season, as they conceded the second-fewest goals (44) in the League One campaign.
Even though it has been a few years since they have made it to this point of the tournament, they did win their previous second-round affair in 2019-20, 4-1, against Southend United.
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Team News
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Daniel Bachmann has three clean sheets in the first five games for Watford in the Championship, putting him in a tie for second in the league alongside Ryan Allsop of Cardiff City, while Ken Sema leads this team with two assists.
Tom Cleverley, Ismaila Sarr, Rey Manaj and Joao Pedro have each tallied once for the Hornets this season, while Sarr and Craig Cathcart are the only other players with assists so far in this domestic campaign.
Edwards has said that Cleverley will be out for a couple of weeks with a calf strain, Imran Louza and Tom Dele-Bashiru are nursing knee injuries, while Samuel Kalu is dealing with a pulled hamstring.
Ethan Robson picked up his first goal of the League One season on Saturday for MK Dons as he and Bradley Johnson (two goals) are the only players who have scored for them to this point of the domestic campaign, while Matt Smith has one assist, and is the only player on the team with a helper so far.
Jamie Cumming stopped four Sutton United shots in the first round to collect a shutout, while the only goal came courtesy of Conor Grant with Dawson Devoy assisting.
Manning made two changes to his starting 11 this weekend, bringing in Daniel Oyegoke and Grant to replace Louie Barry and Matt Smith.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Cathcart, Kamara, Troost-Ekong, Gaspar; Sema, Kayembe, Choudhury, Gosling; Louza; Bayo
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Cumming; O'Hora, Tucker, Lewington; Devoy, Johnson, Robson, Lawrence; Grant, Dennis, Kemp
We say: Watford 2-0 MK Dons
While they have not been all that successful against the top sides in England over the past few seasons, Watford have a lot more experience playing high-calibre teams.
We believe the Dons will have difficulty penetrating a Hornets side who have shown tremendous poise and continuity on the defensive side this season.
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