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

Watford will be aiming to maintain the pressure on second-placed Brentford when they travel to Bournemouth in the Championship on Saturday.

The Hornets are third, only behind the Bees on goal difference, while the Cherries have slipped out of the top six and now sit seventh.

Match preview

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Both teams were relegated from the Premier League last season and have aspirations to go straight back up.

Inconsistency appeared to be costing Watford a shot at automatic promotion, but they are currently on a run of four successive victories – their longest winning streak of the campaign.

Although fourth-placed Swansea City, who have two games in hand, are in the driving seat for second spot behind Norwich City, Xisco Munoz's side have made a statement of intent over the last couple of weeks.

The team's latest victory came on Wednesday night as goals from Joao Pedro, Ismaila Sarr and Ken Sema secured a 3-2 triumph over Blackburn Rovers, but Munoz has urged his team to kill games off earlier.

It was only a fifth away win over the season for Watford, who have conceded the fewest goals on the road in the Championship (11) but also scored the third fewest (11).

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If the Hornets are thriving under the pressure then Bournemouth are possibly crumbling as they lost 2-1 on Wednesday in a crucial fixture against Cardiff City.

The result allowed the Bluebirds to leapfrog the Cherries in the table on goals scored, and the South Coast side are outside of the top six for the first time all season.

It was not the start to life as permanent manager that Jonathan Woodgate would have wanted, and Bournemouth have now lost two games in a row after being unbeaten in the former England defender's first four matches as caretaker boss.

The Cherries have only lost four games at the Vitality Stadium this season but three of those defeats have come since the start of 2021.

Chris Mepham scored a 95th-minute equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw for Bournemouth against Watford earlier this season, and it continued a recent trend in this fixture, with 10 of the last 14 games between the two sides finishing level.

Bournemouth Championship form: LWDWLL
Bournemouth form (all competitions): WWDWLL

Watford Championship form: LDWWWW

Team News

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Woodgate is likely to make changes after a second successive defeat, with Jack Wilshere and Shane Long front of the queue for a starting spot after being named on the bench against Cardiff.

Dominic Solanke is nearing a return from his ankle injury which has kept him out since the beginning of the month, but Woodgate has confirmed that David Brooks is set to be sidelined for four to five weeks with an ankle problem of his own.

Xisco revealed that Nathaniel Chalobah played through illness against Derby last weekend so the midfielder was rested on Wednesday, but he could feature at the Vitality Stadium, denying Dan Gosling a reunion with his former club, who he left in January after six and a half years.

Chalobah's return could be the only change that the Hornets make, with Munoz's 4-3-3 system proving successful since the switch in formation two weeks ago.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Carter-Vickers, S. Cook, Kelly; Smith, L. Cook, Lerma, Stanislas; Wilshere, Billing; Long

Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina; Cleverley, Chalobah, Hughes; Sarr, Pedro, Sema

We say: Bournemouth 1-2 Watford

Watford are certainly the side with the momentum, but Bournemouth will be looking for a reaction to their latest two defeats, and it could be a tight game; we fancy the Hornets to take all three points, though, as their assault on the top two continues.