Watford welcome West Bromwich Albion in a pre-season friendly on Saturday after the two sides swapped places in the league pyramid last season, with the hosts sealing promotion back to the Premier League and their visitors dropping down to the second tier.
The Premier League newcomers started their pre-season campaign with a 3-2 win over Millwall and a pair of victories against Colchester United, while the Baggies also have three wins under their belt, having defeated Salford City, Woking and Sheffield Wednesday.
Match preview
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Watford sealed promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season, finishing in second place in the Championship, four points clear of third-placed Brentford.
While the dismissal of manager Vladimir Ivic and subsequent appointment of Xisco in December did raise questions given the early stage of the season, it proved to be an inspired decision, as the Spaniard saw his team collect 57 points from his 26 league games in charge and earn a spot in the top two as a result.
They now head into their first season back in the top flight with the challenge of avoiding an immediate drop, with a positive pre-season campaign crucial in providing them with confidence going into the start of the campaign.
The Hornets started with a dramatic friendly against Millwall at their training ground, coming out with a narrow 3-2 win thanks to goals from Domingos Quina, Adam Masina and new signing Ashley Fletcher.
They then took on Colchester United in two sixty-minute games, fielding different sides in each, as Ismaila Sarr and Dapo Mebude scored in a 2-1 victory in the first game and goals from Dan Gosling and Cucho Hernandez saw them win the second match 2-0.
Xisco's men will now play in front of a crowd at Vicarage Road for the first time since last March, with the hopes of recording another pre-season victory to build further momentum for the upcoming campaign.
They take on a West Bromwich Albion side who have also had an impressive start to pre-season, having won their three matches so far.
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In their first season back in the top flight, the Baggies were relegated in disappointing fashion, finishing 13 points adrift of safety in 19th place.
That resulted in the departure of manager Sam Allardyce, and the Midlands club now head into a new era under the control of Valerien Ismael, who impressed in the Championship as Barnsley manager last season, taking the Tykes to an unlikely fifth-placed finish.
In the first game of his tenure, West Brom welcomed Salford City to their training ground in a match played over three 45-minute thirds, and they would come out with an 8-2 win as Ismael assessed almost every member of his squad.
They would then play their first public friendly with a trip to Woking, as Kenneth Zohore won and then converted a late penalty to see the Baggies pick up a 1-0 win, in a game that was arguably more about the new system and fitness of the players than the scoreline itself.
Most recently, the Baggies returned to their training ground to take on Sheffield Wednesday, with a Matt Phillips brace making the difference in a 2-0 win.
They now head into their fourth game with the aim of building more confidence and momentum with a positive result against Premier League opposition before they kick off their push for promotion.
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Team News
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Watford have already been busy in the summer transfer window, bringing in attackers Emmanuel Dennis, Josh King and Ashley Fletcher, midfielders Imran Louza and Peter Etebo and experienced left-back Danny Rose, and Xisco should give a run out to plenty of his new recruits.
Fletcher got on the scoresheet for the Hornets for the first time in the 3-2 friendly win over Millwall, and he will hope to put in another impressive performance to boost his chances of earning a starting spot in the Premier League.
Attacker Cucho Hernandez could also be assessed further heading into the season after he found the net in the friendly against Colchester United following his return from a loan spell with Getafe last season.
Similarly to their opponents, West Brom have a crop of new recruits to look at, including midfielder Alex Mowatt who arrived on a free transfer after being Ismael's captain and key man for Barnsley.
The Baggies also beat several clubs to the signature of defender Matt Clarke, who joined on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, and he could be given his first start as the likes of Kyle Bartley, Dara O'Shea and Cedric Kipre have all played plenty of minutes in pre-season.
Ismael immediately implemented his preferred system in the opening friendlies, and he will stick with the 3-4-3 shape, with Grady Diangana, Matt Phillips and Karlan Grant likely forming the front three once again.
David Button should again start between the sticks, with Sam Johnstone still resting following England's Euro 2020 campaign.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Foster; Navarro, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Rose; Hughes, Chalobah, Louza; Dennis, Fletcher, Sarr
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Button; O'Shea, Clarke, Ajayi; Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Townsend; Grant, Phillips, Diangana
We say: Watford 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Both sides boast deep squads and should rotate throughout the game with plenty of players getting on the pitch, meaning this should be a close encounter with the teams equally focussed on fitness and perfecting systems heading into the new season.
Watford's abundance of attacking options could see them scrape over the line, although we expect a very tight affair between two fairly well-matched sides.
Sam Varley
