Preview: Boreham Wood vs Watford - prediction, team news, lineups

Watford will begin their pre-season schedule when they make the short trip to Meadow Park for Saturday's meeting with Boreham Wood.

The Wood are building up for a second consecutive campaign in the National League, while the Hornets are preparing for a fifth consecutive Championship season.

Match preview

After coming up from the National League South in 2024-25, Boreham Wood were moments away from achieving back-to-back promotions last season.

The Wood secured a playoff berth via a fourth-place finish before they recorded extra-time victories over Forest Green Rovers and Carlisle United to set up a Wembley date with Rochdale.

Luke Garrard's side established a two-goal lead and still held a one-goal advantage when the final entered the 97th-minute, only to be denied an historic win by Emmanuel Dieseruvwe's late equaliser, before falling short in the subsequent penalty shootout.

After missing out on promotion football in the toughest of circumstances, Boreham Wood face the difficult task of launching another promotion bid in the 2026-27 campaign as they continuing to dream of playing EFL football for the first time in their 78-year history.

The Wood currently have six pre-season friendlies scheduled ahead of the new National League season, including Saturday's clash with Championship side Watford.

The three teams have faced off in pre-season in each of the past three years, playing out a goalless draw in 2023 before Boreham Wood fell to defeats in 2024 and 2025.

In contrast to their opponents, Watford have a new manager at the helm after appointing Alessio Dionisi as Edward Still's successor.

Still was dismissed after recording three wins in 15 games during his short time in charge, resulting in Watford finishing in a disappointing 16th place.

Dionisi, who has signed a two-year contract, has spent his entire managerial career in Italy, including time in charge of Venezia, Sassuolo, Palermo and two spells at Empoli.

The 46-year-old will recognise the importance of successfully implementing his ideas and philosophy in pre-season if Watford are to mount their first serious challenge for promotion since suffering relegation from the Premier League in 2021-22.

Dionisi's charges will face Boreham Wood, Barnet, Hansa Rostock and Fiorentina in pre-season before they start their campaign with an EFL first-round tie against York City or Crawley Town.

The Hornets have not strengthened their squad ahead of their first friendly, but they have seen a number of players leave the club this summer, including Georgian attacker Giorgi Chakvetadze, who recently completed a permanent transfer to Watford's sister side, Udinese.

Team News

As is often the case in pre-season, it is difficult to predict who will feature in the starting lineups, as managers are usually keen to spread the minutes around the squad, and there is always the possibility that trialists could feature.

That said, Garrard may be tempted to hand starting opportunities to the club's three new additions, Luca Gunter, Tyler Golden and Olivier Bainbridge.

Matt Rush will be looking to pick up from where he left off last season, after scoring 33 goals in 59 competitive appearances.

As for Watford, DR Congo's Edo Kayembe and Australia's Nestory Irankunda are unavailable after recently representing their respective countries at the World Cup.

Goalkeeper Egil Selvik is the backup option to Norway's number one, Orjan Nyland, meaning he will be on the bench for Saturday's quarter-final clash with England in Miami.

Imran Louza and Rocco Vate are not expected to feature in Saturday's friendly, while Tom Dele-Bashiru is closing in on a move to Greek outfit Aris FC.

Boreham Wood possible starting lineup:

Gunter; Golden, Reynolds, Bush, Bainbridge; O'Connell, White; Richardson, Brunt, Abdulmalik

Watford Wood possible starting lineup:

Bachmann; Akomeah, Pollock, Keben; Ngakia, Kyprianou, Ramirez-Espain, Bola; Baah, Maamma; Doumbia

We say: Boreham Wood 1-3 Watford

Watford will hope their squad is in a much stronger position by the time the season starts next month, but while they are yet to make a signing, they still should have enough in their ranks to get the better of fifth-tier Boreham Wood.

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