Preview: Watford vs. Brentford - prediction, team news, lineups

Brentford visit Watford on Tuesday evening looking to extend their unbeaten return in the Championship to 12 matches.

Sitting just two points in front of the visitors, the fourth-placed Hornets must avoid defeat to remain ahead of the Bees in the standings.

Match preview

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After failing to win either of their home fixtures against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County, Thomas Frank was aware that his Brentford side needed to produce a performance against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.

While the Bees left it late to wrap up the three points at the City Ground, getting over the line was all that mattered as they bid to remain in the hunt for automatic promotion.

Their 11-match unbeaten run has featured six draws, but collecting 21 points at almost two points per game is on par with what second-placed Bournemouth have earned over the course of the season.

The short trip to Vicarage Road represents one of their toughest fixtures of the season, although Brentford now possess the second-best away record in the division.

On the flipside, Watford have recorded the most points in home matches since the start of the campaign with 22 coming from just nine fixtures.

Their sole defeat in Hertfordshire came as recently as the start of December, but Vladimir Ivic has witnessed his players shake off the setback against Cardiff City with back-to-back wins.

Although victories against Rotherham United and Birmingham City did not come as a huge surprise, the results were required to keep Watford in the top six.

Ivic continues to come in for his fair share of criticism regarding his team's return in the final third, but there can be few complaints with the club sitting just four points adrift of the leaders.

Despite the possibility of at least one significant outgoing during the January window, Watford remaining in the hunt for automatic promotion may convince some high-profile squad members to commit their short-term futures to the club.

Watford Championship form: DWDLWW

Brentford Championship form: WWWDDW

Team News

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Despite the short turnaround, Ivic is likely to keep changes to his Watford XI down to a minimum.

Etienne Capoue may come back into the centre of midfield, but Troy Deeney should keep his spot ahead of Stipe Perica.

Frank could hand a recall to Pontus Jansson after the Sweden international remained as an unused substitute at the weekend.

Josh Dasilva is expected to feature after coming off the bench to score at the City Ground, while Sergi Canos is in line to take the place of Tariqe Fosu-Henry.

Watford possible starting lineup: Foster; Ngakia, Troost-Ekong, Wilmot, Femenia; Capoue, Chalobah, Cleverley; Quina, Deeney, Sema

Brentford possible starting lineup: Raya; Dalsgaard, Pinnock, Jansson, Henry; Dasilva, Janelt, Jensen; Mbuemo, Toney, Canos

We say: Watford 1-1 Brentford

While both teams will look to show ambition in the final third during this fixture, a contest between two strong outfits at this level could end in a low-scoring draw. All things considered, both managers would accept such a result at this stage of the campaign.

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