Watford look to get promotion push back on track with the visit of Bristol City

After no wins in their last three games, Xisco Munoz is under pressure to deliver a performance and result that will get Watford fans and the board back on his side.

Bristol City have lost their last three matches and will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance that saw them lose 2-0 to rivals Cardiff last time out.

Watford’s last performance was a lacklustre effort away to lowly Coventry, a team they had previously beat 3-2 at Vicarage Road earlier in the season.

Despite manager Munoz promising a new system that the squad had been working on in training, Watford once again fielded a 4-4-2 formation, with the underperforming attacking pair of Troy Deeney and Andre Gray favoured over youngster Joao Pedro.

The impressive Will Hughes was benched, alongside January signing Philip Zinckernagel, whose only start for the Hornets came in the FA Cup in a 1-0 loss to Manchester United.

Bristol City have had a stutter in results after a great start to the year, which saw them win four of their first five games of 2021.

Since then they’ve suffered league defeats to Derby, Cardiff and Brentford, despite a promising performance against the latter which saw them leading after the third minute.

Having just been knocked out of the FA Cup in the Fifth Round to Sheffield United thanks to a Billy Sharp penalty, there will be no distractions for the squad as they aim for a rise into the Play-Off places.

TEAM NEWS

Watford will be without Ben Foster, Isaac Success, Tom Dele-Bashiru and Christian Kabasele, as striker Stipe Perica returned to the matchday squad last week. No Watford players have received suspensions.

Bristol City manager Dean Holden won’t be able to select defender Alfie Mawson, having been shown a straight red in the FA Cup Fifth Round defeat against the Blades. Steven Sessegnon and Andreas Weimann are still unavailable for selection due to injury.

Watford vs Bristol City: Stats

City’s last league draw happened in the reverse of this fixture in late November.

Bristol City have been the victors 37 times in this fixture, with Watford winning 29 times and 30 matches ending in a draw.

Watford’s strike pair of Deeney & Gray have scored only two goals from open play this season, with six of Deeney’s seven league goals coming from the penalty spot.

Meanwhile, City’s strikeforce of Famara Diedhiou and Nahki Wells have 14 goals between them already this season.

Latest Watford league form: DLDWW

Latest Bristol City league form: LLLWL

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