Sheffield Wednesday and Watford both kicked off their EFL Championship seasons with victories last week. The Owls, who started their campaign with a 12 point deduction, secured an away win against last season’s playoff semi-finalists Cardiff City. Meanwhile, the Hornets won their first Championship game since 2015 with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.
Before that, the Watfords last Championship clash was actually a 1-1 draw with Wednesday back in 2015. A last-minute equaliser from Owls’ substitute Adthe Nuhiu famously stopped Watford from lifting the league title. Will the men from Hertfordshire be able to gain revenge on their Yorkshire counterparts?
This tactical analysis will preview the early season encounter, with a look at the tactics both teams employed in their opening day.
Predicted line-ups
Both teams opted to start with a back three on opening day, and we think it’s likely that the two line-ups will be unchanged. However, it’s worth noting that Watford have a whole host of players who are either injured or uncommitted to playing for them in the second tier. Therefore, we could see Hornets manager Vladamir Ivic make a few changes, but it’s hard to say who would come in.
Wednesday started with Dominic Iorfa, Tom Lees and Joost Van Aken in central defence, in front of goalkeeper Cameron Dawson. After keeping a clean sheet, Garry Monk will likely stick with that. Kadeem Harris moved to the right wing-back role for the first time, allowing Matt Penney to start on the left. We expect Barry Bannan and Massimo Luongo to play in central midfield, with Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown just in front of them. Josh Windass and Jordan Rhodes should retain their places up front.
Watford started with a 3-4-3 formation, which changed into a 5-4-1 as they protected their lead in the second period. Former England international Ben Foster is almost certain to keep his place between the sticks. The Hornets defended very well against Middlesbrough, so we expect them to stick with Craig Cathcart, Christian Kabasele and Ben Wilmot in the rearguard. Kiko Femenia and former West Ham man Jeremy Ngakia should play at wing-back, with Tom Cleverley and Nathaniel Chalobah in central midfield. Ken Sema and Domingos Quina are likely to be supporting the exciting Joao Pedro in attack.
The Hornets were without 17 senior players for the Middlesbrough game, but Watford manager Vladamir Ivic has confirmed that Craig Dawson will be in contention for the Hillsborough clash. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of Ismaila Sarr returning to the line-up.
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