Following last weekend’s emphatic win over Preston North End, Watford will be looking to sign off for Christmas with back-to-back wins when they travel north to take on Blackburn Rovers this Saturday (December 23, 3pm KO).
As Valérien Ismaël and his charges finalise their preparations for the Sky Bet Championship match at Ewood Park, here we take a look at all the stats, facts and figures surrounding the contest.
Previous Meetings
This is the first time since 1970 that Watford and Blackburn are meeting three times in a calendar year in the Football League – the Hornets won two of the three encounters that year (L1).
Watford have conceded in eight of their last nine league games against Blackburn (13 conceded), with the Golden Boys failing to score in three of those games, though two of which came in the last three games.
Blackburn are looking to complete a league double over Watford for the first time since the 1969/70 campaign, following their 1-0 win at Vicarage Road in August.
Recent Form
Watford have won their last two away league games, more than in their previous 17 away games combined (1). The Hornets haven’t strung together three consecutive away wins since September 2017 in the Premier League.
Only one of Blackburn’s 22 league games this season has been a draw – none of their last 20 have ended level (W9 L11) and none at all at Ewood Park this season (W5 L6).
Since the start of November, only Ipswich (18) have scored more Championship goals than Watford (17), with the Hornets netting five goals in two different games during that time; they hadn’t done so in a league game since October 2021 in the Premier League before then.
Opposition Stat Attack
Sammie Szmodics ranks first for goals scored in the Championship so far this season (14), while the former Peterborough and Bristol City star has also contributed the most shots on target (32) and shots off target (26) among Blackburn’s squad.
Exciting youngster Andrew Moran sits top of Rovers’ standings for assists (5), while full-back Callum Brittain leads the way for passes in the opposition half (551), crosses attempted (54) and dribbles attempted (67).
Defensively, Hayden Carter appears one to watch, with the 23-year-old having completed the most clearances (73) and blocks (23).
