The Hornets host the Swans in their final EFL Championship game of the season

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Watford will be looking to end their successful campaign on a high when they take on Swansea City at Vicarage Road on Saturday, whilst the Swans will be wanting to carry their winning momentum into the play-offs.

Last time out, Xisco’s men failed to pick up a third straight win as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to third-placed Brentford last Sunday.

The opening 45 minutes saw nothing between the two sides, but second-half goals for Marcus Forss and league top goalscorer, Ivan Toney handed the Bees their third consecutive victory.

That result brought no change to the shape of the table. Watford, who have already secured automatic promotion remained in second place, four points ahead of Brentford.

Meanwhile, Swansea City ended their three-game winless run when they beat relegation-threatened Derby County at the Liberty Stadium.

Though the Rams took the lead in the 48th minute through Tom Lawrence, goals from Morgan Whittaker and Connor Roberts helped the Swans complete their fightback.

The win meant Steve Cooper’s men moved up to fourth place securing their place in the play-offs, four points behind Brentford and three points above Bournemouth.

Ahead of the fixture, Cooper told Swansea City’s official website:

“We want to play these 46 games and go into the play-offs knowing we’ve given the league campaign all that we’ve got.”

“When you go into the play-offs, you go there knowing you’re in a certain position for a certain reason.

He added: “Whether we get 80, 81 or 83 points, it’s a good return. It’s progress on last season in what has been a unique season in terms of scheduling for everybody.”

Team News:

The injury-stricken Hornets remain without club captain Troy Deeney, who has been out with a long-term Achilles tendon injury. Alongside Deeney and the players that won’t feature are Kiko Femenia (groin), Joseph Hungbo (knock), Jeremy Ngakia (hamstring), Tom Dele-Bashiru (ACL), Tom Cleverley (hamstring) and Nathaniel Chalobah (niggle).

Elsewhere, the visitors have their own injury woes with Tivonge Rushesha and Jordan Morris both ruled out with ACL injuries, while Steven Benda is suffering from an ankle problem.

Head-to-head:

The tie will see the 51^st meeting between the two sides, but it’s the Welsh side who have the better record with 23 wins and 10 draws, whilst the Londoners have prevailed on 17 previous occasions.

Watford have kept clean sheets in seven of their last 12 matches – nine of which ended with under 2.5 goals – and have netted the opener in a league-high 31 games (W24, D5, L2).

The hosts boast the league’s best home record – picking up a remarkable 56 points (W18, D2, L2). There’s still reason for caution, however, as the last six league head-to-head’s are split evenly (W3, L3).

Arriving at Vicarage Road with just one loss in their last six Championship fixtures (W3, D2), Swansea City have netted two or more goals in all five of those unbeaten results.

The Swans have won each of their 16 league games when leading at half-time and will be looking to capture another victory here to further improve their form ahead of the play-offs.

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