Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
When these two go face to face it always evokes memories of that incredible Championship Play-Off Semi Final of 2013 when Leicester were awarded a late penalty which they subsequently missed only for the ball to go straight up the other end which allowed Troy Deeney to fire home a dramatic winner to send Watford to Wembley
The two sides fortunes have somewhat differed during the 3 years that followed as we can’t mention Leicester without their incredible title win of last season but these two sides now once again face off in top flight action this afternoon at Vicarage Road
Before the international break it was certainly a fixture to forget for Watford as they were trounced by Liverpool at Anfield with The Hornets on the bad end of a 6-1 scoreline. That defeat was subsequently Walter Mazzari’s heaviest defeat since taking charge of the club in the Summer.
That heavy defeat aside it has been a decent start to the season for Watford and although a miserable afternoon on Merseyside saw them slip down the table they still find themselves in 8th place with just over a quarter of the campaign completed.
Reports in the press this week have mentioned that West Ham could be eyeing up a bid for Watford’s talisman Troy Deeney, he was subject to a lot of interest over the Summer which was brushed away but it will be interesting to see if The Hammers come in with a bid to test Watford’s resolve in the New Year
Their opponents Leicester have had somewhat of a stop start of a Premier League campaign as their defence of the title has been somewhat lackluster. For all their European exploits the form domestically has not been up to scratch and Claudio Ranieri currently finds his side languishing in 14th place just two points away from the drop zone.
Their last action before the international break saw West Brom inflict their first home defeat of the season as Tony Pulis’ men ran out 2-1 winners. Danny Drinkwater will want to quickly forget that game as it was his errand pass that set up Matty Phillips and give The Baggies all three points.
Leicester may be 14th but the bottom half of the table is so congested right now that a win over West Brom would have seen them move as high as 9th place. So as gloomy as the picture looks now it only takes a couple of wins for The Foxes to give themselves some daylight between them and the bottom three.
Last season’s top scorer Jamie Vardy was among the goals in midweek as he scored England’s 2nd of the night before the spectacular collapse which allowed Spain to earn a draw. Vardy will first have to hope he makes the starting eleven and if he does that he can return to scoring ways in the Premier League
The main decision for Claudio Ranieri will be whether to go with Vardy or does he plump for record Islam Slimani, he himself has only scored twice in the league but the Algerian has only needed 3 games in which to do so. therefore you would probably point to the former Sporting Lisbon forward getting the nod.
Leicester have only picked up a solitary point on the road this season and that was against Tottenham on October 29th, and I think it will be just a point for them this afternoon as their best performances have come in front of their own fans
What with Watford looking to bounce back from the embarrassing defeat to Liverpool a fortnight ago they are going to be due a performance this afternoon but it will be a performance that only earns them a share of the points. I reckon it will be honours even
