Preview: Watford vs. Coventry City – prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to avoid the most unlikely of relegation battles, an out-of-form Watford side will welcome top-six chasers Coventry City to Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon in the Championship.

The Hornets’ struggles in Hertfordshire continued as they shared the spoils with Swansea City last time out, whilst the Sky Blues efficiently put Rotherham United to the sword in the East Midlands.

Watford’s attempts to escape the rigours of Championship football at the second attempt have all but grinded to a sobering halt following a run of one victory in the last nine league matches, with the Hornets being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Swansea on Wednesday night.

As has become common practice in the recent weeks, Valerien Ismael’s side shot themselves in the foot early on when right-back Ryan Andrews netted a comical own goal past the returning Daniel Bachmann, and despite Ryan Porteous scoring an equaliser in the second half, the hosts were unable to record a first home win in eight fixtures.

Having only tasted Championship success against League One-bound Rotherham since the middle of January, Watford have unsurprisingly slipped out of the top-six conversation as the season approaches its closing act, with Ismael’s men now 12 points behind sixth-placed Hull City.

Due to a woeful run of form lately, Hornets supporters are beginning to look nervously over their shoulders at the bottom three, with 22nd-placed Stoke City just seven points behind Watford – although Saturday’s hosts do have an eight-team buffer between themselves and the drop zone.

Representing the club’s sole January arrival, the loan signing of Emmanuel Dennis from Premier League Nottingham Forest was meant to drive Watford towards a playoff position, however the 26-year-old’s modest return of two league goals in eight appearances has not helped change the Hornets’ fortunes

Celebrating seven years in charge at Coventry City, Mark Robins was left delighted after his side recorded a 5-0 thrashing of Leam Richardson’s Rotherham on Tuesday night, meaning that the Sky Blues have won back-to-back matches by that emphatic scoreline at their East Midlands home.

As was the case in the demolition of sixth-tier Maidstone United eight days’ earlier, former Sunderland loanee Ellis Simms bagged a first-half hat-trick against the struggling Millers, with the 23-year-old slowly growing into a striker who could aim to replicate the heroics of Viktor Gyokeres in the future.

After suffering back-to-back defeats against Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion – Coventry’s first successive losses since early November – the comfortable victory over Rotherham last time out allowed Robins’s men to stay in eighth place, just three points behind Hull in sixth.

The Sky Blues will need to swiftly improve their form away from the Coventry Building Society Arena if they wish to earn a spot in the Premier League next season, with Saturday’s visitors winning just six of their 18 Championship outings this term, collecting 22 points.

Last season’s edition of this fixture resulted in maximum points for Coventry at Vicarage Road in November 2022, when Swedish hotshot Gyokeres scored the only goal of the game, piling the pressure on then-Watford boss Slaven Bilic, who would only last another four months in the job.

After sustaining a knee injury in the loss at Millwall last weekend, Jeremy Ngakia missed Wednesday’s draw and is a doubt for the Vicarage Road clash versus Coventry.

The absence of the 23-year-old could mean that Andrews remains in the XI despite netting an own goal against Swansea, although a change in formation could see the 19-year-old drop to the bench.

With Vakoun Issouf Bayo failing to find the net last time out, the Hornets’ leading marksman Mileta Rajovic could be drafted into the side at the focal point of the attack.

Coventry are fighting on without two of their midfield options in the form of Ben Sheaf (hamstring) and Jamie Allen (cheekbone), with veteran Liam Kelly and January arrival Victor Torp set to start in the engine room once again.

Robins decided to utilise Josh Eccles at wing-back for the Rotherham match instead of natural full-back Milan van Ewijk, and the visitors could line up in a similar fashion on the weekend.

A change in formation – driven partly by the season-ending injury to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto – has allowed Haji Wright and Simms to form a dangerous-looking partnership in attack.

Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Andrews, Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Kone, Dele-Bashiru, Dennis, Asprilla, Chakvetadze; Rajovic

Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Collins; Thomas, Latibeaudiere, Kitching; Eccles, Kelly, Torp, Bidwell, Palmer; Simms, Wright

We say: Watford 1-1 Coventry City

Having not won at Vicarage Road since November 25, Watford are devoid of confidence on their own patch but possess the quality to earn a result this weekend.

Coventry have alternated lacklustre displays with handsome victories over the past fortnight – we are expecting something in the middle of those two extremes from the Sky Blues on Saturday afternoon.