Claudio Ranieri will be without several key players when he faces one of his former clubs tonight as Watford compete against the league leaders Chelsea.

The Hornets will be without experienced goalkeeper Ben Foster as he is set to be out of action until January with a groin strain and because of that Daniel Bachmann should start.

Nicolas Nkoulou will also be unavailable until 2022 and that could lead to William Troost-Ekong retaining his place at the back where he will likely partner Craig Cathcart.

While a lot of teams like to match up against Chelsea it is likely that Watford will stick with their 4-1-4-1 formation which has served them well recently.

However, Ranieri will be without one of his biggest offensive threats as Ismaila Sarr has suffered ligament damage that will see him unavailable until January at the earliest.

Emmanuel Dennis should be leading the line once again after scoring against Leicester City at the weekend, while Joshua King shall also retain his place in the team.

Watford possible starting lineup: Bachmann; Masina, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Femenia; Louza, King, Cleverly, Sissoko, Hernandez; Dennis body check tags ::