SM
Man City vs. Chelsea: 2 hrs 19 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
WL
Championship | Gameweek 39
Apr 2, 2021 at 3pm UK
Vicarage Road
SW

Watford
1 - 0
Sheff Weds

Lees (7' og.)
Sierralta (30'), Hughes (64')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Borner (3'), Urhoghide (38'), Reach (41'), Wildsmith (78')

Preview: Watford vs. Sheffield Wednesday - prediction, team news, lineups

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

Automatic promotion contenders Watford will be looking to extend their winning run when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Vicarage Road on Friday afternoon.

The Hornets have won five matches in a row and occupy second place heading into the final stretch of the season, while Wednesday are in the relegation places.


Match preview

Watford's latest win came at home to Birmingham City prior to the international break, with Ken Sema, Nathaniel Chalobah and Andre Gray all on target.

Xisco's side have won nine of their last 10 matches and are six points better off than third-placed Swansea City, who have a game in hand to play.

Watford's promotion fate is very much in their own hands, then, but six of their remaining eight fixtures are against teams in the top 10, including Swansea on the final day.

Xisco deserves huge praise for guiding Watford up the table since his first game in charge on Boxing Day, with no side taking more points than the Hornets' 41 since then.

Not since January 2011, when Malky Mackay was in charge, have Watford won six league games in a row, but that is something they will be confident of achieving on Friday.

However, despite Wednesday's lowly position, they did pull off a shock 2-1 win away at Yorkshire rivals Barnsley just before the two-week hiatus.

Jordan Rhodes scored twice at Oakwell to end Barnsley's impressive run of form and earn Darren Moore his first victory since taking charge.

The Owls are now unbeaten in two, having also played out a 1-1 draw with Huddersfield Town, and are six points adrift of 21st-placed Birmingham City with a game in hand.

Moore's men quite simply need to put a winning run together if they are to bridge that gap, but they are winless in their last four league games against Watford since 2013.

This will be Wednesday's first trip to Vicarage Road in the league since May 2015 when playing out a 1-1 draw on the final day of the Championship season.

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

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form:
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • W


Team News

Tom Cleverley is back available for Watford after returning to training this week, while Ismaila Sarr will undergo a late fitness test after struggling with a hamstring issue.

Captain Troy Deeney is moving closer to a return to action, having missed close to two months, but this game will come too soon for the striker.

Fellow attacker Sema is a major doubt, meanwhile, as he started Sweden's World Cup qualifier against Estonia on Wednesday.

As for Wednesday, they are expected to be without a number of first-team players for this trip to Vicarage Road.

Keiren Westwood was forced to pull out of the side that beat Barnsley due to an injury in the warm-up, but he should be back involved here.

Cameron Dawson, Moses Odubajo and Chey Dunkley are all sidelined, but Joost van Aken, Jack Marriott and Sam Hutchinson have a chance of returning this week.

Striker Rhodes seems certain to lead the line after scoring three goals in his last three Championship games, which is as many as in his previous 33.

Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina; Chalobah, Hughes, Gosling; Pedro, Success, Gray

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Westwood; Urhoghide, Lees, Borner; Palmer, Pelupessy, Bannan, Reach; Paterson, Windass; Rhodes


We say: Watford 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday revived their survival hopes before the international break with an impressive win at high-flying Barnsley, but they face a Watford side in superb form.

The Hornets have won five in a row, and nine of their last 10, so we cannot see past a home victory in this Good Friday fixture.



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




body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__441298 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-04-01 11:13:50:
html db last update - 2021-03-31 15:36:18 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Xisco Munoz "very happy" with Nathaniel Chalobah in Birmingham win
Leicester go top of Championship with win over West Brom
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester432941081394291
2Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
3Leeds UnitedLeeds43269876344287
4Southampton42259884543084
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich432181476601671
7Hull City421811136254865
8Coventry CityCoventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough43189166156563
10Preston North EndPreston43189165660-463
11Cardiff CityCardiff43185204860-1259
12Bristol City431610175046458
13Sunderland43168195250256
14Swansea CitySwansea431411185362-953
15Watford431216155958152
16Millwall431311194255-1350
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn431310205771-1449
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth431212195866-848
19Queens Park RangersQPR431211204057-1747
20Stoke CityStoke431211204160-1947
21Birmingham CityBirmingham43129224864-1645
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield43917174770-2344
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds43128233667-3144
RRotherham UnitedRotherham43411283285-5323
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

This weekend's permutations: Who can be crowned champions, win promotion or suffer relegation?

1

TW

£34.5m full-back 'determined to leave Chelsea this summer'

2

ÂF

Liverpool midfielder set for summer exit after only one year at club?

3

LM

Man United midfielder 'very close to signing new contract'

4

MU

Saturday's Championship predictions including Leicester vs. West Brom

5

SC

Preview: Wolves vs. Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

6

PW

Saturday's Premier League predictions including Wolves vs. Arsenal

7

SP

Man City 'identify top target to replace Guardiola'

8

MC

Ten Hag confirms Garnacho apology for social media activity

9

TH

Preview: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PR


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .