Watford vs. West Bromwich Albion, Vicarage Road, Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 7.45 p.m.
Albion have had a string of injuries in the striking department in recent months. With Daryl Dike already out until the New Year after suffering an Achilles tendon injury in April, it was confirmed on Tuesday morning that new signing Josh Maja will be out for eight weeks after suffering an ankle injury at Ashton Gate on Saturday in a challenge that arguably should have resulted in a penalty for the Baggies.
With Maja projected to remain sidelined until after the November international break, Carlos Corberán is left with only one senior striker available in Brandon Thomas-Asante. With a glut of midweek fixtures in the coming weeks, the former Sunderland man is certain to miss the next 10 games, despite the fact that there are two international breaks during that time. Corberán will almost certainly need to look at other non-ideal possibilities to bring off the bench to prevent placing too much pressure on the former Salford City striker, with Matt Phillips previously starting one game up front while BTA was absent.
Obviously, Phillips is already proven to be an important component of the squad, so other options must be considered.
o Be investigated. As a result, Jeremy Sarmiento is expected to receive his chance to start sooner, but the club’s young options have been curtailed when Jovan Malcolm, Rayhaan Tulloch, and Mo Faal were all loaned away. Expect to see a variety of improvised strikers in the following weeks!After picking up a point and their first clean sheet of the season against Nigel Pearson’s Bristol City at the weekend, Albion travel to the home of Valérien Ismael’s Watford on Wednesday evening. Slaven Bili, another ex-Baggies manager, was in the dugout on Albion’s previous visit in February, while Chris Wilder has come and gone from Vicarage Road in the meanwhile, with Ismael installed in his place.
The Frenchman hasn’t had the same spectacular start to his Watford career as he did at the Hawthorns – Albion were top of the table after the first six games of his tenure two seasons ago, with four wins and two draws – but the Hornets have won two and drawn two of their first six league games, and lost on penalties to League One Stevenage in the Carabao Cup. Both of their wins have come at home, with 4-0 wins over QPR on the first weekend and 2-0 wins over Birmingham City last Saturday. According to The Athletic, the Frenchman is already in negotiations about extending his three-year contract, but it seems exceedingly improbable considering the Pozzo family’s track record with head coaches – Ismaël
The win over Blues at the weekend was especially impressive given that it was John Eustace’s side’s first defeat of the season, so perhaps the team is starting to click under the Frenchman’s unique approach, but Albion fans will inevitably be skeptical of the longer term prospects for an Ismael team given their own experiences. Watford, who were relegated in 2022, have a solid roster, despite the fact that they lost a couple of their stars over the summer, notably Joo Pedro and Ismaela Sarr, which will obviously have reduced their potency. Mileta Rajovi, a Danish striker signed from Swedish club Kalmar, has already scored three goals this season, which has alleviated some of the pressure. Tom Ince was another high-profile addition.
Corberán may be aiming to utilise his squad more in this first three-game week of the season, but Maja’s absence will be a huge setback to those ambitions. However, he has one or two possibilities behind and wide of the center striker – Sarmiento has been pushing for a start, Diangana is back from injury, and Tom Fellows is another possibility who hasn’t been used this season in the Championship. Furthermore, Alex Mowatt might fill in at number ten if the formation calls for it, though he is more likely to play in central midfield, where Okay and Molumby have been the favoured duo. Corberán has traditionally utilized Chalobah.
Albion could take heart from their second-half effort at Ashton Gate, as well as their first shutout of the season, but Maja’s injury is clearly a setback. This will be another difficult away game, and with Watford still finding their feet under Ismael, a point would be a decent result ahead of Saturday’s home encounter.
History
On Wednesday evening, Albion head to Vicarage Road in search of their first victory at Watford in almost 15 years. Tony Mowbray was in charge of the last Baggies club to defeat the Hornets on their own turf, a 3-0 triumph in October 2007 despite Adie Boothroyd’s team being top of the table and having picked up 16 points.
Albion have drew two of their five excursions to Watford since then, losing on three of them, including an entertaining meeting in February this year when Corberán’s squad rallied from behind twice before falling 3-2 against a side coached by former Baggies boss Slaven Bili.Albion’s first appearance at Vicarage Road came in September 1982, after the late great Graham Taylor had taken the club, owned by Elton John, from the fourth division to the top flight in just five seasons. Luther Blissett, who would score for the Baggies in a loan stay a decade later, scored for the hosts.
Two seasons later, thanks to goals from Garry Thompson and Gary Owen during John Giles’ second spell as Albion manager in May 1985, the Baggies would secure their first win in that particular corner of Hertfordshire – the two sides would finish the season on 55 points in the middle of the table, with the Hornets edging the top-half finish on goal difference.
Aside from the 3-0 victory in 2007, Albion also scored three goals at Watford in December 2000. Graham Taylor was in charge of the Hornets for the second time, while Gary Megson was in charge for the first time. Unfortunately, one of his deadline day signings from March of that year, Tony Butler, gave the hosts a second minute lead when he put through his own net, before Tommy Mooney made it 2-0 before the half hour. Lee Hughes cut the deficit to one shortly after halftime, but Watford’s Espen Baardsen equalized with his second own goal of the game. Albion took the lead a few minutes later through Jason Roberts, but Mooney equalized with eight minutes remaining.
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