Watford and Bristol City will both have the chance to claim a third consecutive victory when they face off at Vicarage Road on Boxing Day.

The Hornets are currently sitting in seventh position in the Championship standings, while the Robins are two points further back in 12th place.

Match preview

Watford have proven to be a tough team to beat in the last couple of months, having lost just two of their last 13 Championship matches (D4, L2).

Valerien Ismael's side will head into Tuesday's contest in a positive mood after claiming back-to-back away wins over Preston North End and Blackburn Rovers despite falling behind in both of those contests.

They fought back from one goal down to thrash Preston 5-1, before they staged a late turnaround in Saturday's trip to Ewood Park, with Mileta Rajovic and Rhys Healey finding the net in the closing stages to guide Watford to a 2-1 win over Blackburn.

As a result of those two away victories, Watford have moved to within two points of the top six at the halfway stage of the Championship season.

The Hornets will certainly fancy their chances of adding to their points tally after avoiding defeat in each of their last five competitive meetings with the Robins (W3, D2).

Meanwhile, Bristol City boss Liam Manning would have been relieved to see his side claim maximum points from their last two outings after picking up just one win in his first five games in charge (D1, L3).

They edged out Sunderland via a 1-0 scoreline at Ashton Gate, before they recorded another home win in Friday's entertaining clash with Hull City.

The Robins looked to be heading towards defeat when Hull City established a 2-1 half-time lead, but they managed to produce a late fightback, as goals from Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight proved enough to help their side clinch an important win.

Bristol City, who are currently four points adrift of the top six, will now have the chance to win three successive league games for the first time since November 2020.

If they are to add three more points to their tally, they will need to beat Watford for the first time since winning an EFL Cup tie in August 2017.

Team News

While Watford have reported no new injury concerns, they are still unable to call upon the services of full-back Jeremy Ngakia.

With the games coming thick and fast, Ismael could be tempted to freshen up his side, with Ryan Andrews, Yaser Asprilla and Rajovic all in contention to start against the Robins.

Despite scoring the winning goal at the weekend, Healey may have to settle for a place on the bench, having failed to start any of his nine competitive appearances since joining Watford in the summer.

As for the visitors, they are without the injured quartet of Haydon Roberts, Rob Atkinson, Kal Naismith and Ayman Benarous.

Andy King and Ross McCrorie are closing in on a return to fitness, but the pair are not expected to come back into the fold until the start of January at the earliest.

Having seen his side claim back-to-back victories, Manning could decide to select the same lineup for a third consecutive game.

Watford possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Andrews, Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Asprilla, Kayembe, Livermore, Kone, Sema; Rajovic

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, Pring; Sykes, James, Gardner-Hickman, Mehmeti; Knight, Conway

We say: Watford 2-0 Bristol City

Although both teams enter Tuesday's contest in confident mood, we think that Watford will get the better of their opponents after winning their last three head-to-head home meetings by a combined 10-0 scoreline.

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