Preview: Watford vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to bounce back from midweek cup embarrassment, Watford welcome promotion favourites West Ham United to Vicarage Road for a Championship battle on Saturday afternoon.

A second-string Hornets XI was dismantled by Peterborough United in the EFL Cup earlier in the week, whilst the Hammers progressed into the third round with a resounding success at Southampton.

Match preview

For all the positivity surrounding an unbeaten start to their Championship campaign, Watford showcased their squad-depth issues on Tuesday night, when an extremely-inexperienced team was knocked out of the EFL Cup by Peterborough.

The Hornets fielded the youngest starting XI of the Pozzo era against third-tier Posh, who netted twice before the half-time break and added three during the second period to progress comfortably from the Vicarage Road battle.

Following the opening two matches of the second-tier term, Watford are currently sitting seventh in the Championship standings with four points, beating Southampton before sharing the spoils at Wrexham last weekend.

The Hertfordshire club are yet to replace a number of star players who have jumped ship during the summer transfer window, with Australian ace Nestory Irankunda switching to Sporting Lisbon, whilst Imran Louza is set to sign for Panathinaikos in Greece.

Due to the departure of the Moroccan midfielder, centre-back Matthew Pollock is now club captain for Watford, who are searching for a rare victory over West Ham following five consecutive defeats in this fixture between 2019 and 2022.

West Ham last tasted defeat by Watford in December 2018, when goals from Troy Deeney and Spanish forward Gerard Deulofeu secured maximum Premier League points at the London Stadium for the visitors.

That same East London venue was the scene of arguably the Championship's biggest shock so far this season last weekend, with efforts from Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell securing a 2-1 victory for Charlton Athletic.

Despite being the overwhelming favourites for automatic promotion back to the promised land, West Ham are yet to enjoy second-tier success this term and reside in a lowly 16th spot in the league standings.

Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has experience of lifting the Championship trophy with Wolverhampton Wanderers back in 2018, and recent arrival Joel Piroe is a former second-tier title holder and Golden Boot winner.

As a result, there is not a lack of divisional knowhow with the visitors, and West Ham possess an excellent recent record at Vicarage Road, where they have won on each of their past three visits by an aggregate scoreline of 11-3.

Watford Championship form:

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West Ham United Championship form:

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Team News

Watford are exceptionally short of options in defensive areas, with the injuries to Jeremy Ngakia (thigh) and Marc Bola (hamstring) adding to the backline headache.

Reducing the Hornets' options at the top end of the pitch, Kwadwo Baah is recovering from a thigh injury sustained earlier this month.

Finding the net during the draw at Wrexham last weekend, Danish marksman Luca Kjerrumgaard is likely to retain his spot in the XI.

Featuring in matches against Portsmouth and Burnley this month, West Ham's Pablo is currently sidelined because of a calf problem.

Yet to make the field for the Hammers since their relegation, Czech Republic international Tomas Soucek is nursing a thigh injury.

Joshua Ajala is pushing for further first-team involvement after scoring a brace in the EFL Cup victory over Southampton.

Watford possible starting lineup:

Ravaglia; Eames, Pollock, Keben, Zemura; Bove, Kyprianou, Nabizada, Bravo, Maamma; Kjerrumgaard

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles; Engels, Orford, Bowen, Piroe, Solomon, Castellanos

We say: Watford 1-2 West Ham United

With West Ham conceding in each of their opening four matches of 2026-27, Watford will fancy their chances of springing a home surprise this weekend.

That being said, it feels as if the Hammers are climbing towards top form following their standout success at Southampton, with another away victory likely on Saturday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.