After a two-week break for international fixtures, the Sky Bet Championship is back as Watford hope to secure a victory against Birmingham City at Vicarage Road.
Ahead of the fixture against the Blues this Saturday (September 16, 3pm KO), take a look at all the stats, facts and figures surrounding the eagerly-awaited encounter.
Previous Meetings
Watford have won eight of their last 10 league games against Birmingham City (D1 L1), winning 3-0 at Vicarage Road last season.
Birmingham’s five-game winless run against Watford is their second-longest winless run against the Hornets in the Football League (D1 L4), following a seven-game stretch between December 1983 and April 1993 (D1 L6).
The Hornets have won each of their last five home league games against Birmingham by an aggregate score of 10-0. They last won six successive such games against an opponent in January 2021 against Barnsley.
Recent Form
Birmingham are one of two unbeaten sides in the Championship this season (W3 D2), along with Preston North End. The Blues last had a longer unbeaten start to a league season in 2008/09 (six games).
There have been 52 passes combined in the build-up to Watford’s seven Championship goals this season, the most of any side. There were 15 before Mileta Rajović’s goal against Coventry City, with the Hornets last having more before passes in the build-up to scoring a league goal in February 2019 – a Troy Deeney strike against Cardiff City (26 passes).
Since the opening-day win against Queens Park Rangers, Watford are winless in their last four league games (D2 L2), while their 3-3 draw against Coventry City last time out saw as many goals scored combined as in their first four games.
Opposition Stat Attack
Lukas Jutkiewicz and Jay Stansfield are joint top scorers (2) for the Blues so far this campaign, with Juninho Bacuna first for shots on target (4) and Scott Hogan top for shots off target (5).
Lee Buchanan has attempted the most passes (240) in total, alongside the most passes in the opposition’s half (116), while Kevin Long has attempted the most passes in his own half (148).
At the back, Krystian Bielik tops the rankings at the Blues for tackles attempted (13) and is joint top for interceptions (10), with Long having made the most clearances (32) and Buchanan first for blocks (4).
