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Championship | Gameweek 38
Mar 20, 2021 at 3pm UK
Vicarage Road
BL

Watford
3 - 0
Birmingham

Sema (4'), Chalobah (55'), Gray (80')
Success (44')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Pedersen (35')

Preview: Watford vs. Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Watford vs. Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Watford and Birmingham City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Automatic promotion hopefuls Watford will face Birmingham City in the Championship on Saturday afternoon hoping to consolidate second place with a victory at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets have won eight of their last nine league games, while the visitors are looking to win their first match at Vicarage Road since April 2009.


Match preview

Watford boss Xisco hailed his side's "amazing performance" after a comfortable 4-1 win at Rotherham United on Tuesday night, but the Spaniard still feels that his players are capable of more.

Goals from Francisco Sierralta, Ismaila Sarr, Ken Sema and Dan Gosling helped the Hornets secure their fourth consecutive league victory and moved them three points clear of third-placed Swansea City, who lost to Bournemouth in midweek.

Watford head into this weekend's clash against Birmingham after winning six of their last seven league meetings against them, including a narrow 1-0 victory at St Andrew's earlier this campaign.

The Hornets have also lost just one of their last 10 Championship matches, averaging 2.24 points per game since Xisco took charge in December.

Knowing that Swansea still have a game in hand, Watford cannot afford to slip up with just nine league fixtures left to play, and a victory on Saturday would move them one step closer to an immediate return to the Premier League.

Lee Bowyer got his managerial reign at Birmingham off to a winning start with a slender 2-1 victory at home to promotion hopefuls Reading on Wednesday night.

Goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz and captain Harlee Dean gave the Blues only their fourth win in their last 20 Championship matches, moving them six points clear of the relegation zone, although Rotherham United now have four games in hand.

Even though Birmingham have three difficult fixtures coming up against Watford, Swansea City and Brentford, Bowyer is confident that his new side can survive the drop.

Saturday's match against the Hornets will be their first trip to Vicarage Road since losing 1-0 back in April 2015, and the Blues have been beaten on their last three visits without scoring a goal.

Securing a surprise victory this weekend would see Birmingham claim successive league wins for the first time since December.

Watford Championship form:
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W

Birmingham City Championship form:
  • L
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • L
  • W


Team News

Ben Foster has featured on the Watford bench for the last two matches, after over two months out with a broken finger, and the goalkeeper is now in line to replace Daniel Bachmann in the starting lineup this weekend.

Midfielder Gosling came off the bench to score in the victory at Rotherham on Tuesday and will be pushing for a place in Xisco's starting lineup.

After winning against Reading in midweek, Birmingham boss Bowyer may decide to name the same starting lineup against the Hornets on Saturday.

Croatian midfielder Ivan Sunjic, who was dropped to the bench against the Royals, will be hoping to earn his place back in the first XI ahead of either Gary Gardner or Rekeem Harper.

Watford possible starting lineup:
Foster; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina; Chalobah, Hughes, Zinckernagel; Sarr, Pedro, Sema

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Colin, Roberts, Dean, Pedersen; Halilovic, Gardner, Harper, Bela; Hogan, Jutkiewicz


We say: Watford 2-0 Birmingham City

Birmingham will be hoping to build on an impressive victory in midweek as they look to move further away from the relegation zone. However, the visitors face a Watford side in a rich vein of form, and the Hornets should have enough quality in the final third to triumph at Vicarage Road this weekend.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data




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2Leicester CityLeicester37264774334182
3Ipswich TownIpswich38249580493181
4Southampton36227773472673
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom381991059362366
6Norwich CityNorwich381871369541561
7Hull City371610115346758
8Coventry CityCoventry3715121059431657
9Preston North EndPreston37168134954-556
10Middlesbrough38166165352154
11Cardiff CityCardiff38165174351-853
12Sunderland38146184845348
13Watford381212145351248
14Bristol City38138174245-347
15Swansea CitySwansea381210164858-1046
16Millwall381110173650-1443
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn38119185164-1342
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth381011175462-841
19Stoke CityStoke38118193553-1841
20Queens Park RangersQPR381010183650-1440
21Birmingham CityBirmingham38109194259-1739
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield38815154261-1939
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds38115223061-3138
24Rotherham UnitedRotherham38311243077-4720
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