Here we go again... Watford went into the World Cup break in 4th place with a disjointed performance at Bristol City. After four weeks which would have included rest and a warm weather training trip to Spain the hope is that Bilic would have used the time productively to make up for the pre-season that he didn't have, with at least two friendlies taking place. On the injury front, no fresh news has come out at the time of writing. There were rumours that Bachmann has picked up an injury early on in the break but those rumours proved unfounded as he played in the friendly with Arsenal on the weekend. It is unclear whether Sarr would be back in contention having represented Senegal in Qatar, who bowed out to England on Sunday night. Pre-break the Hornets form had taken an up turn since the horrific loss at Millwall, despite a loss at home to Coventry the defence had been tighter and had only conceded two goals in the last 6. Hull on the other hand, had 2 wins and a draw from their last 6, however for all of October they were without a permanent manager since the surprise sacking of Shota Arveladze just a few hours before a match on 30th September. Liam Rosenior took the reins and has taken 4 points from the 3 games in charge. Hull currently sit 20th in the table with 24 points from their 21 games and have the worst goal difference in the division. Our last meeting was in April 2017 in the Premier League, they were managed by the snake and beat us 2-0 at their place, we were managed by Mazzarri at the time and by that point in the season the players had pretty much downed tools. Past results against Hull have been a mixed bag over the decades, the most famous win came on a Monday night in May 1979 when Watford ran out 4-0 winners in a third tier tie that secured promotion to the old Division Two, for our second successive promotion.
Interesting that we moved this to the Sunday ages ago - did the club get this weekend mixed up with last Saturday when England could have played at 3. Most other Championship games are still at 3 this Saturday I think but might move forward to 2.. Anyway we might need a bit of cheering up a chance to celebrate 2 wins !
It certainly helps any long distance home fans and Hull fans who wouldn't be able to be home by 7 otherwise. The best I can get through the door for after a home match is 7.30 and that's only if the roads are moving seamlessly. Plus as Jumbo says, it just makes sense not to go head to head with any WC games.
I think they do yes. Not the trickest game to get back into league action, but we will have the added pressure of knowing the results of sides before we play. Whether that matters to mentality of the players is a different question. Hull actually started the season well but have dropped off, now possibly due to the new manager bounce, picking up a bit. Winnable for sure, but it's this sort of game we need to win. We can perform well against the bigger clubs in this division but so often come unstruck against sides we are expected to put away. I think the break in Spain will have done the boys some good - bonding and talking things through. Bilic will have laid out plans for the games at least up until the Window opens. Three points on Sunday would be a perfect start, and I think we will get them. 2-1.
I personally feel the pressure of these games more than I do for the games against the "fancied sides". I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few upsets this weekend as I think it will more like a first weekend of the season than a mid-season weekend. It may simply come down to which teams find their rhythm quickest. Unfortunately we have been slow starters this year but hopefully we can do better in this game or at least no concede early!
I'm bringing my girls to this one and there's even a very rare appearance from Mrs UEA happening too. It's nailed on to be an awful game. You've been warned.
Depends. It's a midday kick off on a Sunday. Might be a having an afternoon nap infront of the T.V or finishing up his jelly and ice-cream at the home. I would of thought so.
Based on what? He surely won't be going back to Senegal to do a lap of honour as per after the Afcon victory. There's also a week gap since he played vs England so no reason for him not to be fully fit either.
I didn't actually know that... I do now checked BBC fixtures. Maybe they switched the Burnley game for the earlier time? Very strange.
When? It's been 3pm ever since they announced it in July. I only know because of having to sort out extra tickets etc.
I can't comment on the BBC but the WFC information has always said 3pm. https://www.watfordfc.com/news/fixtures-further-changes-confirmed
I guess that he would have flown to Senegal on Monday, then spend a couple of nights there. I should think that he would be back in the UK by tomorrow at the latest. I wouldn't be surprised if he's on the bench on Sunday but I would be surprised if he starts.
It's been shown as a 15:00 KO for ages. You may be muddling it up with our Boxing Day fixture, which is 12:00.
Why?! Have you seen news of this actually happening anywhere? I've searched google, and looked at the twitter and instagram accounts of Sarr, Edouard Mendy, Koulibaly, Nampalys Mendy, Boulaye Dia and Iliman Ndiaye and seen zero word or pictures of the team having visited Senegal. It's not as if they have a victory parade to partake in.
Just a guess, I assume the Senegalese FA would have chartered a flight to include the players, backroom staff, officials and possibly family members.
I had a quick look the other day to try and see what the release date from international duty was when a country is knocked out of the WC but couldn't spot anything in the regulations. So presumably it's the following day. Personally I doubt he'll be involved at all on Sunday. Only a guess but would think he'll be given a short break to recharge and return for the following weekend. Bilic has been training with the squad without him for 3 weeks so can't imagine he's integral to his plans for the Hull game. Edit: Though I can see Heckingbottom has said he expect Ndiaye involved for Sheff Utd on Saturday...
To do what? Celebrate in front of a non-existent crowd that they got comfortably beaten in the first knock-out round? There's been no news or photos of any such thing happening. After their Afcon win most of their players posted photos or videos of the subsequent street parade they had in Dakar.
To recharge?! He's hardly had a gruelling schedule, and a full week rest after a 90 minute game is plenty. There are players at PL clubs playing games multiple-hour flights away on a Thursday in the Europa League, then playing again on the Sunday in the PL. Our best player is not "integral" to our manager's plans for a game? Hmmm. It's not as if Bilic will need to spend weeks on the training pitch with Sarr reminding him how to play as a winger against Hull, just a week after he'd successfully done so against England and Kyle Walker.
