Ahead of Norwich City’s home game against Watford, Chris Lakey took a look at the visitors
Current form
Norwich (7th): L-W-L-L-D (4 points from 15)
Watford (5th): D-D-W-L-L (5 points from 15)
Last up
The Hornets headed to Russell Martin’s Swansea on Friday night and were thumped 4-0. Watford boss Slaven Bilic was not a happy bunny: "It was a bit embarrassing to be fair - I have a bad feeling in my stomach. I feel it and I don't like it. We are in a bad moment as a squad, but we knew that. It started 10 days ago. We didn't expect that we were going to outplay Swansea because we are lacking starters, lacking alternatives and everything. We were preparing for a game that needed passion, dedication and commitment, but that was lacking. It is all connected, if you don't have the quality when you have a ball, then you give the ball away, your confidence goes and it looks as though you are not trying. But at the end of the day it can't be 4-0. That is just embarrassing."
Manager
Slaven Bilic
Been in the post since September, which is pretty good going by Watford’s standards. Bilic has previously managed West Ham and West Brom in England as well as Hajduk Split, the Croatian national team, Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas.
Why change?
Watford don’t usually need much of an excuse to change their manager. Rob Edwards had been in the job for three months/10 games but hadn’t impressed Watford owner Gino Pozzo, who said: "As with all decisions taken by the Board, I believe this change to be in the best interests of the club. We felt Rob had enough time to show us the identity of his team, however performances haven't reflected our hopes and ambitions.” Edwards went to Luton where he put the final nail in Dean Smith’s coffin on Boxing Day.
Has the change worked?
Bilic’s first game in charge was a 4-0 win at Stoke. His record so far is seven wins, six defeats and two draws. Watford were 10th in the Championship when he took over and they are now fifth, but they were badly beaten at Swansea on Friday and the manner of the performance is worrying for the manager.
Last time they met
October 15 2022
(Championship)
Watford 2 Norwich 1
Louza 18 Sargent 45
Davis 31
Star man
Jen Sema
The winger has started all of Watford’s league games this season, leads the assists and crosses table for the Hornets and has impressive stats for his defensive work too - he’s good in both boxes. Bilic prefers 4-2-3-1 which allows Sema to pull defenders wide. Mostly appears on the left but has done stints on the right wing and at centre forward.
AOB
Watford’s Brazilian striker Joao Pedro has eight goals to his name this season, six of them in his last nine games, but he’s missing tonight because of an injury picked up against Millwall on Boxing Day and could be out for six to eight weeks – not good news for the Hornets.
Mutual friends
Malcom Allen, Sebastien Bassong, Aidy Boothroyd, Leigh Bromby, Clint Easton, Rob Edwards, Damien Francis, Malky Mackay, Trevor Putney, Glenn Roeder, Iwan Roberts, Tim Sherwood, Mike Walker.
Prediction
City looked a bit better in the home draw against Reading, while Watford are coming off the back of two defeats in a week. Expect a tough game - obviously - but not sure City are quite ready to put in a barn-stormer. Draw
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