Match Pack: Watford v Swansea City

• Watford v Swansea City
• Sky Bet Championship
• Vicarage Road
• Wednesday October 5, 7.45pm KO

• Referee: Tim Robinson
• Assistant Referees: Ian Cooper & Robert Hyde
• Fourth Official: Keith Stroud

Manager Russell Martin is into his second full season at the Swansea.com Stadium, and after a sluggish start to the Sky Bet Championship season his side have begun to hit form, winning three of their last four matches.

After a hard-fought victory last weekend, that saw former Watford youth player Michael Obafemi score a late winner against West Bromwich Albion, the Swans will be hoping to build on that momentum in Hertfordshire.

• Watford have won six of their last nine home league matches against Swansea City, including the most recent meeting at Vicarage Road in May 2021.

• The Welsh side haven’t lost consecutive league games against Watford outside the top-flight since a run of four consecutive losses in the fourth-tier between April 1976 and October 1977.

• The Hornets’ 4-0 victory over Stoke City last time out was their biggest win in the Football League since beating Bristol City 6-0 in February 2021. Indeed, Watford haven’t won successive league games since August 2021, with the first of those wins coming at home against Swansea.

For the extensive statistical breakdown check out Stats Buzz: Swansea City In Numbers.

Since the victory at Stoke City there have been no new injury concerns for the Hornets.

In his press conference, Head Coach Slaven Bilić said: “It’s too early for some players who are injured to come back for Swansea, it’s more like Blackpool or even Norwich.”

For the opposition, Kyle Naughton is fit after shaking off the shoulder knock he picked up in the opening half of the win at West Bromwich Albion, where he soldiered on to play the full 90 minutes.

There were no other injury concerns from the weekend fixture, while the Swans were set to make a late decision on the fitness of Joe Allen.

Jamie Paterson, Liam Cullen and Liam Walsh remain on the sidelines.

Slaven Bilić, Watford Head Coach:

“It’s a good start, very promising. Now we don’t have a lot of time to prepare for the next one but we’re looking forward to it.

“We have something to build on, we had a good game [against Stoke], a great win, four goals scored and a clean sheet, and we’ll see the state of the players, but no big worries in terms of injuries.

“It’s a big game, Swansea are a very good side, they play free football and don’t have pressure. What they do, they do really well. They like the ball like us, so it will be an interesting game. They’re coming to our stadium after two wins, so they’re in a confident moment and on that wave.”

Matt Gill, Swansea City Assistant Head Coach:

“After the start we had the lads have shown tremendous courage to continue working and playing the way we want to, and concentrate on building performances. So, I am pleased for them, and hopefully we can build on it.

“That’s how we work, and you could see last year that as the season went on we got better and better and we improved.

“We are really proud of how the players have dug in and performed in the last few weeks and the way they have been prepared to keep showing their courage and bravery, and you could see that in how they finished the game on Saturday.”

Overall:

Won: 18
Drawn: 10
Lost: 23

Last Six:

May 2021: Watford 2-0 Swansea City (Championship)
January 2021: Swansea City 2-1 Watford (Championship)
September 2019: Watford 2-1 Swansea City (League Cup)
December 2017: Watford 1-2 Swansea City (Premier League)
September 2017: Swansea City 1-2 Watford (Premier League)
April 2017: Watford 1-0 Swansea City (Premier League)

Watford’s last match against Swansea City came in the 2020/21 second-tier season, when the Hornets played their final match of the campaign following promotion back to the top-flight.