So the first game of Antonio Conte’s era kicked off in style as the Stamford Bridge outfit outnumbered their London rivals West Ham United last weekend with a marginal scoreline of two goals to one.
With that being done, the Blues will now be travelling to Vicarage road to face Watford, who recently played a 1-1 draw against the South Coast club Southampton. With Conte at the throne of the Bridge, a tactical masterclass is expected and besides that, his touchline antiques are something that the fans will be waiting to see every weekend.
Well, in the previous season, both the encounters between the two clubs ended as a draw. The first being at the Stamford Bridge, which ended in a 2-2 draw, while the other one was goalless game. But this time around, Chelsea will be travelling with a lot of confidence and the players too will be looking bounce back from that horror show of the previous campaign.
Watford vs Chelsea team news:
Watford’s manager, Walter Mazzarri will be without the service of their new signing Isaac Success, who missed the previous fixture as well due to a leg muscle injury. Besides that, the other signing Brice Dja Djédjé’s participation is at stake, but Mazzarri will have both of his strikers to choose from in the fixture.
Furthermore, midfielder Ben Watson will be unavailable for the Hornets as a result of his straight red card against Southampton, which Mazzarri claimed was “unlucky”.
For the visitors, they will be without the services of the midfielder John Obi Mikel, who is with his national side Nigeria at the Olympic Games, while Kurt Zouma will also be unavailable as the Frenchman is still recovering from his knee injury.
Besides that, the participation of Chelsea’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas is in doubt as it is currently being rumoured that he might head out of the Stamford Bridge.
Predicted Lineup:
Watford possible starting lineup:
Gomes; Cathcart, Prodl, Britos; Amrabat, Guedioura, Behrami, Capoue, Holebas; Deeney, Ighalo
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic; Kante; Oscar, Matic, Willian; Hazard; Costa
Stats: (taken from FourFourTwo)
- Watford have met Chelsea three times at Vicarage Road in the Premier League (W1 D1 L1), with their only win coming back in September 1999, 1-0 with a goal from Allan Smart.
- Watford’s 1-0 win in 1999 is the Hornets’ only win over the Blues in their last 15 meetings in all competitions (D5 L9).
- The only Chelsea player to score in their three Premier League trips to Vicarage Road was Salomon Kalou; who hit a 90th minute winner in March 2007.
- Antonio Conte has lost just one of his last 31 league games as a club manager (W28 D2).
- Antonio Conte and Walter Mazzarri met seven times in Serie A as managers, with Mazzari only coming out on top once; in their first meeting (Atalanta 0-2 Napoli in January 2010). Conte won three and drew three of the following six, all for Juventus.
- Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has made the most 127 saves and three penalty saves in the Premier League since the start of 2015-16.
- Following his winner versus West Ham United on MD1, Diego Costa has scored six goals in eight Premier League appearances for Chelsea in the month of August.
- Troy Deeney has been involved in six of Watford’s last seven Premier League goals (four goals, two assists).
Prediction:
As always, a tough footballing encounter is expected at Vicarage road and given the recent away record of the Blues against Watford, anything can happen. Watford were the one surprise packages last season, and will be looking to build on the form, while the Blues will be hoping to continue their good start under the new manager. Surely a tough encounter, but we do believe that Chelsea have the upper hand in the game.
1-3 Chelsea