Post by weasel on Sept 21, 2023 12:10:35 GMT
We welcome Watford to ER this Saturday. The last times the teams met was 2 years ago in the Premier League and much has changed for both sides since that season where we did the double over them.
Watford have had a mixed set of results this season, 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and sit 1 point below us. As usual for championship sides it is hard to know what to make of them especially when you try to analyse their results as they hvave faced other sides with similarly inconsistent records. As such I feel a lot will depend on how they approach the game and whether they will sit back like Sheffield Wednesday did against us in our last match at Elland Road. Even against Hull, in the first half, we saw that teams may simply look to stifle us. However as both those matches showed we were still able to create chances but just lacked clinical finishing, a first half goal in either of those matches would probably have seen us winning comfortably.
I would expect a couple of changes. I'm not sure if Joe Rodon's red card will see him miss this match but I think it probably will. As such the choice for Daniel Farke is whether to select Liam Cooper or Charlie Cresswell to start. I'm not sure if Cresswell was unavailable last night as he wasn't on the bench and there would also be question marks as to whether Cooper is fit enough to play a full match with him only just returning from injury. An alternative would be to slide Luke Ayling into centreback with Jamie Shackleton and Sam Byram as the full backs. I would expect Cooper to be given the nod though it would mean two left footers in the centre of defence. Rodon will be missed as he has looked decent and his partnership with Pascal Struyjk has looked to be blossoming nicely.
If Ayling isn't played at centreback then Farke has the dilemma of who to choose at full back. Shackleton and Bryram have both done well at left back and it may be that Farke opts to start this match as he ended the Hull match with Shackleton and Byram as fullbacks after Ayling was subbed off near the end of the match. Personally I would expect the back four to be Byram, Ayling, Cooper (if Rodon is banned) and Struyjk.
Midfield and I wouldn't be surprised to see either Amapdu or Gray rested. Both have been brilliant but 3 games in a short space of time doesn't give much opportunity for niggles to recover. Glenn Kamara and Ilia Gruev will have had a bit of time to train with the squad and must be desperate to show what they can do. With us being at home there must be the temptation for us to be a bit more attacking and to play one of them.
Up front and I think it will be straightforward with Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter continuing but the wing situation is more complicated. I would expect Willy Gnonto to be rested even if the injury that saw him leave the pitch isn't serious. With us having good options on the wings it makes sense to rest him even if he is available. Cree Summerville and Dan James both looked good against Hull and I would be tempted to start both of them.
Watford have had a mixed set of results this season, 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and sit 1 point below us. As usual for championship sides it is hard to know what to make of them especially when you try to analyse their results as they hvave faced other sides with similarly inconsistent records. As such I feel a lot will depend on how they approach the game and whether they will sit back like Sheffield Wednesday did against us in our last match at Elland Road. Even against Hull, in the first half, we saw that teams may simply look to stifle us. However as both those matches showed we were still able to create chances but just lacked clinical finishing, a first half goal in either of those matches would probably have seen us winning comfortably.
I would expect a couple of changes. I'm not sure if Joe Rodon's red card will see him miss this match but I think it probably will. As such the choice for Daniel Farke is whether to select Liam Cooper or Charlie Cresswell to start. I'm not sure if Cresswell was unavailable last night as he wasn't on the bench and there would also be question marks as to whether Cooper is fit enough to play a full match with him only just returning from injury. An alternative would be to slide Luke Ayling into centreback with Jamie Shackleton and Sam Byram as the full backs. I would expect Cooper to be given the nod though it would mean two left footers in the centre of defence. Rodon will be missed as he has looked decent and his partnership with Pascal Struyjk has looked to be blossoming nicely.
If Ayling isn't played at centreback then Farke has the dilemma of who to choose at full back. Shackleton and Bryram have both done well at left back and it may be that Farke opts to start this match as he ended the Hull match with Shackleton and Byram as fullbacks after Ayling was subbed off near the end of the match. Personally I would expect the back four to be Byram, Ayling, Cooper (if Rodon is banned) and Struyjk.
Midfield and I wouldn't be surprised to see either Amapdu or Gray rested. Both have been brilliant but 3 games in a short space of time doesn't give much opportunity for niggles to recover. Glenn Kamara and Ilia Gruev will have had a bit of time to train with the squad and must be desperate to show what they can do. With us being at home there must be the temptation for us to be a bit more attacking and to play one of them.
Up front and I think it will be straightforward with Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter continuing but the wing situation is more complicated. I would expect Willy Gnonto to be rested even if the injury that saw him leave the pitch isn't serious. With us having good options on the wings it makes sense to rest him even if he is available. Cree Summerville and Dan James both looked good against Hull and I would be tempted to start both of them.