Watford welcome high-flying Swansea City on Saturday, the 12th of September on Match day Five of the Barclays Premier League. While Watford have lost 1 game and drawn the remaining 3, Swansea have won 2 and drawn 2 games. The Welsh side remain one of the three sides apart from Manchester City and Leicester to not have lost any game so far this season.
Team News
Watford
We expect Watford to line-up the same starting XI that lost 2-0 to Manchester City. The club is without the services of Miguel Britos who remains suspended from this game and Lloyd Doyley (neck surgery). Quique Flores could well persist with a 4-2-3-1, with Capoue and Behrami sitting behind the midfield to add much needed steel to the side.
Swansea City
Swansea come into this game on the back of a superb win over Manchester United. With Jefferson Montero training with the squad, the club currently does not have any injuries or suspensions pegging it back. Garry Monk will look to start the side the side that began last match day with an option to use Montero for short burst of time to ensure gradual recovery and game time.
Interesting Facts
- This will be the 42nd meeting between these two sides in all competitions.
- Of the previous 41 games, Swansea have won 19 while Watford have won on 13 occasions.
- Watford have failed to have a shot on target in their last two Premier League games.
- Only Santi Cazorla (16) has created more goal scoring chances than Jonjo Shelvey (14) this season. Â Â Â Â
Possible Line-Up
Watford
Gomes, Nyom, Prodl, Cathcart, Holebas, Capoue, Behrami, Abdi, Jurado, Ighalo, Deeney
Swansea City
Fabiansky, Taylor, Williams, Fernandez, Naughton, Shelvey, Cork, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Ayew and Gomis
Key Men
Etienne Capoue       Â
The Frenchman became Watford’s record transfer this summer when they acquired him from Tottenham for £6.3 Million. It seemed strange to many people that the club was willing to break their bank to sign a player with minimal impact with his previous employes. However, since having moved, the midfielder is beginning to rake in the numbers that many expected of him while at Tottenham. Sitting deep in the line-up his passing has been tidy, as he averages a passing accuracy of 85%. He had shown an ability to break the opposition at Spurs and he seems to be doing so with more conviction now. Capoue has averaged 5 tackles per game, more than 2 successful take-ons per game and a massive 3 interceptions per game in the season so far. He might not be the creative genius in this side, but Capoue, with 4 chances has been one of the top chance creator in the side.
The dominating midfielder will be up against a side that has a midfield that is strong establishing itself as one of the sturdier ones in the league. A strong performance on Saturday would do Capoue a world of good as he looks to regain some lost credentials.
Jonjo Shelvey
Jamie Carragher has been pretty vocal about his opinion of Jonjo Shelvey, hugely talented with random bursts of madness. However, even the former Liverpool defender believes that Shelvey has matured since his time at Liverpool. The 23 year old has begun the new season on a high being at the forefront of this strong Swansea side. The Englishman loves to spray the ball around from a deep position and so far he has completed an impressive 6 long balls per game. While he might not have assisted or scored a goal in the competition so far, he leads the chance creation chart for the Welsh club with 14 chances, 6 ahead of Gylfi Sigurdsson, the next in the table.
He has not been very tenacious with his approach so far, averaging just 2 tackles for a midfielder. However, he has added defensive strength to this side with critical interceptions in the 4 games he has featured, averaging 1.5 of them per game. The midfielder will need to play the anchoring role yet again at Watford for his side to put in a positive performance. With the likes of Capoue and Behrami manning the oppositions midfield, Shelvey has a battle on his hand, which we are sure he is going to relish.
Prediction
Swansea come into this game on the back of an inspiring win, while Watford are yet to win a game in the league. We expect Swansea to chalk out a hard fought 0-1 victory on Saturday.