Both Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers will be looking to recover from defeats when they resume their respective Premier League campaigns with a clash at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.
Watford suffered a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur before the international break, while Wolves, who are yet to get off the mark this term, were beaten 1-0 by Manchester United at Molineux.
Match preview
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Watford started their 2021-22 Premier League season in perfect fashion, recording a 3-2 win over Aston Villa, but they were then beaten 2-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion in their first away match of the campaign.
The Hornets managed to progress in the EFL Cup with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on August 24, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham before the international break, and a total of three points from three matches has left them in 12th position in the table entering this weekend's fixtures.
Watford will know that their home form is likely to be crucial if they are to remain in the top flight this term, and the recent successes over Villa and Palace will have encouraged the supporters.
The promoted club certainly have some winnable matches to come considering that their next two in the Premier League are against Norwich City and Newcastle United, and they will surely have to beat the teams around them in order to avoid relegation back to the Championship for next term.
Watford were 2-1 winners when they last welcomed Wolves to Vicarage Road in January 2020, while they have only lost two of their last six meetings against their opponents this weekend.
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Wolves, meanwhile, have given a strong account of themselves in each of their three Premier League matches this season against Leicester City, Tottenham and Manchester United, but all three matches have ended in a 1-0 defeats, meaning that Bruno Lage is still waiting for his first point as head coach.
The former Championship winners were particularly impressive against Man United before the international break but missed a host of chances before conceding late on, with Mason Greenwood scoring the winner for the 20-time English champions, who were second best for long spells.
Wolves must find a way to translate their attacking football into goals, and it will surely only be a matter of time before they hit the goal trail considering the quality that is present in the forward areas.
Lage's team did beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the EFL Cup on August 24, and they will take on Tottenham in the next round of the competition on September 22 but must first focus on successive Premier League matches against Watford and Brentford.
Wolves found it difficult on their travels last season, winning just five of their 19 matches, and they will certainly need to improve in that area in order to push higher up the division this term.
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Team News
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Watford will again be without the services of Dan Gosling and Ben Foster this weekend, while Francisco Sierralta is unavailable due to a FIFA-imposed suspension.
New signing Ozan Tufan will be assessed ahead of Saturday's contest, while Joao Pedro is back in full training after recovering from a knee injury and could potentially be involved against Wolves.
Moussa Sissoko is expected to keep his spot in the middle of the midfield, while Joshua King, Ismaila Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis should feature in attacking areas for the Hornets.
As for Wolves, Raul Jimenez was thought to be out due to a FIFA-imposed suspension, while Jonny Castro, Pedro Neto and Hugo Bueno remain unavailable for selection through injury.
However, head coach Lage appeared to suggest during Friday's pre-match press conference that Jimenez has been cleared to play this weekend.
Lage was pleased with his team's performance against Man United before the international break, and it would not be a surprise to see the majority of the side again take to the field.
Adama Traore and Trincao are set to continue in the wide areas for the visitors, who will select Jimenez at centre-forward if there is not a change in circumstances ahead of kickoff.
Daniel Podence is now an option out wide, though, having recovered from injury, while recent arrival Hwang Hee-chan could be in line to make his debut at Vicarage Road.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Cathcart, Troost-Ekong, Kabasele, Masina; Etebo; Sarr, Kucka, Sissoko, Dennis; King
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Trincao, Jimenez, Traore
We say: Watford 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves will have been pleased with their performances this season despite suffering three defeats in the Premier League, and we are expecting their luck to change this weekend. It would not be a surprise to see a draw on Saturday, but we have just predicted the visitors to shade a close contest.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wolverhampton Wanderers win with a probability of 40.07%. A win for Watford had a probability of 32.74% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wolverhampton Wanderers win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.4%) and 0-2 (7.3%). The likeliest Watford win was 1-0 (9.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Wolverhampton Wanderers would win this match.
