PREVIEW: Watford vs Burnley – 07/04/2018

Watford vs Burnley

Date: 07/04/18

K/O: 15:00pm

Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium

Referee: Paul Tierney

Sean Dyche returns to Vicarage as Burnley face off against Watford.

The Clarets are riding high on the back of a three game win streak, which has seen them push up to seventh place in the Premier League table. They come off the back off a 2-1 victory over low lying West Brom after Ashley Barnes netted his fourth goal in as many games. Whilst Nick Pope has put together an excellent season, his stand in roll for Tom Heaton could be coming to an end as the England international is ready to return to duty for Burnley.

It was “woulda, coulda, shoulda” for Watford who saw their 2-1 lead erased thanks in part to a Jermain Defoe injury time goal that saw the Hornets finish 2-2 last weekend. It appeared Watford were in control, but a lapse in concentration defensively saw the Hornets concede another late goal to drop points in their bid to remain “premier.”

Watford

While the Hornets haven’t “hit the beach” they gave up a late goal to Jermain Defoe in injury time, which saw them come up minutes short of securing a valuable three points. Javi Gracia brought about some change to the starting XI, as Richarlison was dropped and Roberto Pereyra started on the left wing, while defender Kiko Femenia started out of position on the right. It was the hook up play between Femenia and right back Daryl Janmaat that was most impressive down the right rise. In fact in the 13th minute, Femenia connected with left back Jose Holebas for his first goal of the season to put Watford up.

The lack of output from Troy Deeney continues to be concerning, after back-to-back goals, he’s gone without scoring in the last three games, whilst having eight shots on goal in the last six games. The two goals have come with Stefan Okaka on the pitch, however they were unable to recreate the magic. The play of Roberto Pereyra was impressive down the left, starting in place of Richarlison, as he picked up this third goal of the season. This is the sort of play the Hornets require in order to secure a win this weekend against Burnley. The return of Will Hughes to fitness could be key to Watford controlling the ball in the midfield.

Burnley

The Clarets arrived at Vicarage Road boasting a three game winning streak, thanks in part to Ashley Barnes, who has netted in his last four games. Together with Chris Wood, the pair have accounted for eight goals over the last six gameweeks, which has helped Burnley rise to seventh place in the table trailing Arsenal by just five points.

Predicted Lineups

Watford (4-2-3-1): Karezis, Holebas, Mariappa, Prödl, Janmaat, Capoue, Doucouré, Pereyra, Femenia, Deeney

Burnley: (4-4-1-1):

Predicted Score: Watford 2 Burnley 2

Written by Stephen Toumi. (Twitter: @6thGoal)