Watford set for another challenging test as they host unbeaten Burnley

Watford and Burnley go head-to-head on Friday night with the two recently-relegated sides looking to build on their unbeaten start to the campaign with aims of an instant return to the Premier League.

Little can separate the two teams coming into Friday night’s clash, with the opening two games leaving both sides on the same points and goal difference. For Watford, a trip to the Hawthorns last time out proved difficult with West Brom dominating the majority of the encounter. 

It was a dramatic night for star man Ismaïla Sarr, too, with an audacious lob from inside his own half putting the Hornets in front before missing a penalty late on and failing to secure the three points for the visitors. Nevertheless, new boss Rob Edwards will be pleased to remain unbeaten after two difficult tests against West Brom and Sheffield United.

In the other dugout, the Clarets also have a new man in charge with former Anderlecht boss Vincent Kompany in the hot seat for the first time in English football. His side got off to the perfect start, kicking off the Championship season in style with a 1-0 win at Huddersfield followed up with a difficult first home game against last season’s surprise package Luton Town. 

Burnley were handed a stark reminder that life in the second tier is far from smooth sailing as Daniel Potts put the Hatters in front in the opening five minutes. Josh Brownhill levelled the scores early into the second half but despite dominating proceedings, failed to come away with all three points.

Little can be made of form with just two games gone, however, both teams will be looking to avoid defeat and build confidence after a campaign which was devoid of it for both parties.

With a collective 44 defeats between them last season, Watford picking up 27 of those, a positive start to life back in the Championship could be crucial come May.

Team News

Rob Edwards will be without three senior players going into Friday night’s clash. Tom Dele-Bashiru will be out for two to three months with a knee ligament injury sustained in training while Samuel Kalu is out with a hamstring problem. Imrân Louza also remains out of action after picking up a knee injury back in May. 

New signing Hamza Choudhury could also be involved after his arrival from Leicester City while full-back Mario Gaspar could make his first start for the club after featuring on Monday.

Burnley could also hand a debut to new signing Nathan Tella, with the winger eligible to feature after his arrival from Southampton.

Burnley have been handed a blow in the forward department, however, with both Jay Rodriguez and Scott Twine unlikely to feature. Vincent Kompany will also be without long-term absentees Ashley Westwood and Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson as they continue their road to recovery.

Views from the managers

Rob Edwards

The former Forest Green Rovers head coach has been in high praise of Vincent Kompany as his side prepares for a challenging 90 minutes.

“He has made a really good start to his coaching career which I’m sure he will be really successful in as well.

“I have heard him talking about keeping a lot of the things that made Burnley difficult to play against throughout the years, but he also wants to bring his own stamp on things. He has been very successful with that so far in the first couple of games.

“We know it will be a difficult game, they all are because they all bring their different challenges and threats.”

Vincent Kompany

The Manchester City legend meanwhile is relishing the task at hand and believes it is a great opportunity to assess where his squad is at.

“Watford are still very much a team geared up to go back to the Premier League and then try to stay there.

“It’s the type of challenge for us to have at this time of the season though, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d prefer to go there now because we will have a very good idea of where we are with the squad afterwards.”

Head-to-Head

Last time these two sides met, circumstances were vastly different. In a late battle for survival, it was those in claret and blue who came out victorious at Vicarage Road.

Following a nightmare start for the Clarets with James Tarkowski’s early own goal, strikes from Jack Cork and Josh Brownhill in the final ten minutes completed the perfect turnaround. Burnley, however, failed to win any of their final four matches.

After ten encounters in the Premier League, the last time this fixture occurred in the Championship was back in April 2014. Once again it was late delight for the visitors, with Scott Arfield’s late equaliser cancelling out Troy Deeney’s thunderous effort from distance.

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