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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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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sunderland149322391430
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd149321871128
3Leeds UnitedLeeds147522291326
4Burnley146621761124
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom14572148622
6Millwall146441712522
7Watford147162222022
8Middlesbrough146351816221
9Swansea CitySwansea14545119219
10Blackburn RoversBlackburn145451616019
11Bristol City144731819-119
12Norwich CityNorwich144642320318
13Derby CountyDerby145361818018
14Stoke CityStoke145361718-118
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds145361724-718
16Oxford UnitedOxford Utd144551717017
17Coventry CityCoventry144371819-115
18Hull City143651518-315
19Luton TownLuton144371621-515
20Preston North EndPreston143651420-615
21Cardiff CityCardiff144371320-715
22Plymouth ArgylePlymouth144371425-1115
23Queens Park RangersQPR141761223-1110
24Portsmouth141671327-149
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