It’s been a surprisingly quiet festive period for Watford, after a COVID-ravaged set of fixtures meant postponements again against Wolves, Crystal Palace and Burnley.
Sitting just two points above the relegation zone, Claudio Ranieri’s side find themselves in a treacherous position, following just two victories in their last 11 games.
Their last match, against newly-promoted Brentford, left a bitter taste in the mouth of Watford fans. The Bees overturned a narrow one-goal deficit in the final 10 minutes to run out 2-1 winners with goals from Pontus Jansson and a last minute spot kick from Bryan Mbeumo securing the victory.
A shining light, in what’s been a pretty dull season for the Hornets, has been summer signing Emmanuel Dennis. The Nigerian striker, who signed from Club Brugge back in June, has 12 goal involvements in 17 appearances this season.
Dennis has four goals in his last five Premier League appearances so Watford supporters will be hoping he can maintain this rich run of goalscoring form and fire them to victory against their London rivals.
West Ham have been going through a similar rough patch having won just two of their last 10 games in all competitions with seven of those coming this month.
Despite this run of form, David Moyes continues to defy expectations with the Hammers. They find themselves in sixth place in the Premier League and have qualified for the Europa League knockout stages.
West Ham will be confident they can return to winning ways against a side they are used to beating in recent times – the Irons have won their last three meetings against the Hornets.
Meanwhile, the previous six matches between the two teams have seen the one side win by two or more goals, so a high scoreline may be probable this time around.
Watford have been affected by COVID-19 more than most teams, but are expected to welcome players back following their isolation in time for tomorrow’s game.
Away from their outbreak, Francisco Sierralta has fully recovered from the hamstring injury he sustained last month and is therefore available for selection. However, Peter Etebo, Ismaila Sarr and Christian Kabasele all remain sidelined.
It looks increasingly likely West Ham boss David Moyes will have the same squad at his disposal that he had for Boxing Day’s defeat against Southampton.
Midfielder Declan Rice will have to sit out the Watford encounter after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out and is the only absentee from the loss against Saints.
Defenders Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma are all sidelined as they recover from their respective injuries.
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