Wolves v Watford: Inside track on the Hornets

We spoke with Ryan Gray from the Watford Observer and Jason Bailey from The Rookery End podcast to get a proper look at Quique Sanchez Flores' side.

See what he had to say here...

It seems to have been a shaky start for the Hornets, what's gone wrong for them?

RG: Simply put, they haven’t been good enough.

Defensively, maintaining their shape has been a real struggle and that was clear for all to see last weekend when they were duly thumped by Manchester City.

At the other end, they haven’t been able to take chances. Ahead of the game at the Etihad only City and Liverpool had created more shots on goal that Watford, yet the Hornets had scored just four goals.

Problems at both ends and a bit of complacency I think after a relatively successful campaign last season have contributed to an awful start.

JB: Well to put it simply, we don't seem to be able to defend or score goals! A recipe for disaster at any level.

Obviously the defensive issues were highlighted very publicly with the 0-8 humiliation at the hands of Manchester City last week.

To put some context around the finishing problem, we had an incredible 31 shots against Arsenal in the 2-2 home draw two weeks ago.

That's three more than the 28 shots City took to score those 8 goals last weekend. And one of those goals against Arsenal was a penalty!

What are the expectations now around the club?

RG: Important players are starting to return from injury with Danny Welbeck almost ready for Premier League action and Craig Cathcart returning from a knock picked up on international duty.

No one at the club seems too worried yet as it’s still early days, yet there is a real sense of urgency from head coach Quique Sanchez Flores to change things around.

JB: Whilst we are struggling at the business ends of the pitch, there is enough talent in this Watford side to steer clear of trouble.

We could and should have beaten Arsenal, thanks to an excellent second half performance. Anyone who thought we could have a crack at 7th this season will no doubt be re-evaluating.

However, the Premier League ride isn't necessarily coming to an end just yet, as long as we have the mental toughness to get out of this slump.

What sort of style of play can we expect to see under Quique Sanchez Flores?

RG: Sanchez Flores’ philosophy is all centred around a solid defensive base. He likes his team to be compact and for every player to pitch in with some defending.

Obviously that didn’t happen at all last weekend, but things were much better on Tuesday night as Swansea struggled to break down the defence in the Carabao Cup.

There’s still some teething problems in that I don’t think the head coach really knows his best XI yet, but the team looked far more robust on Tuesday night.

JB: Quique's MO during his first tenure at the club was to set the side up not to lose. Be solid at the back and leave it up to the unfamiliar, to the Premier League, Deeney and Ighalo strike pairing to get the goals.

No doubt, given the aforementioned defensive woes, shoring up the back will be high on the agenda again.

Who are the big danger men for Wolves to worry about in Watford's ranks?

RG: If he turns up, Gerard Deulofeu, as I’m sure Wolves fans are all too aware after last season’s FA Cup semi-final.

However, the former Barcelona man is very much a confidence player and, while last season he was brimming with self-belief, this season is a different tale.

Welbeck and new signing Ismaila Sarr can also be a real handful for defenders.

JB: Well you all know about Gerard Deulofeu from the cup semi final.

If Watford are to get anything from Molineux on Saturday then we wlll need a performance from either him or maybe an exciting cameo from Roberto Pereyra, more likely to start from the bench, who already has a couple of goals to his name this season.

Who are the new faces in the ranks from the summer transfer window, and how have they settled since joining?

RG: Craig Dawson has featured most out of the new arrivals, but he has not had a great time since arriving.

He had his best game against Arsenal two weeks ago, but he still looks to be acclimatising to the Premier League following the step up from West Brom.

Sarr and Welbeck have impressed in the brief moments they’ve been given to play, but the team has more or less been the same as it was last season.

JB: A couple more potential match winners have joined the Hornets this summer.

Danny Wellbeck was an unexpected signing for us fans. But given his injury problems, his involvement has been limited. A first goal for the club on Tuesday may mean Flores will be keen to have him in the first team squad at least on Saturday.

Ismaila Sarr joined Watford for a record fee, around £30m, from Rennes. Again his first team opportunities have been restricted to appearances off the bench as far as the Premier League is concerned, thanks to a busy summer at the African Cup of Nations with Senegal. The reports from French football writers are that we have a talent on our hands and we can look forward to him tearing up defences once he gets going. We've seen glimpses so far!

What we did need in the summer was to improve the centre of defence. On paper Craig Dawson could be seen as an experienced defender that would do so. However the reality has been far from that and a fair few fans have laid the blame for our poor start at the hands of those responsible for our recruitment, if not at Dawson directly.

Wolves and the Hornets have met a fair few times recently, do you think the FA Cup semi-final will be in either side's thinking going into this encounter?

RG: Sanchez Flores has said he hasn’t watched the game and is much more focused on recent form in his preparation. However, I think some of the Watford players might be reminding themselves of that match as a bit of positive thinking ahead of the game.

I think Wolves took their chance to get one over the Hornets in the Premier League last season with that win at Vicarage Road, but those games have certainly added an extra element to this game, which should add to the atmosphere a bit.

JB: I doubt it will be in the minds of either side, as that semi-final will very much feel like a long time ago.

However, I'm sure it will be at the forefront of our fans when the singing starts at Molineux on Saturday. Equally, I'm sure we'll be hearing all about Wolves European tour!

What's your predicted XI for this game, and are there any injury worries?

RG: Troy Deeney is still missing following surgery, so he definitely won’t play, while Isaac Success is out as well.

I imagine the team will be a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Foster in goal, a back four of Femenia, Cathcart, Dawson, Holebas; Capoue, Doucoure, Cleverley, Pereyra, Deulofeu; Gray.

However in the midweek Carabao Cup game, Sebastian Prodl and Christian Kabasele looked strong together in defence while Domingos Quina really impressed in midfield so one or two of those could be surprise introductions.

Also, I’d expect Welbeck and Sarr to be brought off the bench at some point.

JB: There will be no Troy Deeney on Saturday, which I'm sure will disappoint the Wolves fans! Craig Cathcart has been out injured but is supposedly back in training.

Tuesday night's cup win over Swansea was a chance for some players to stake a claim for a starting spot. No-one particularly stood out, although young Portuguese midfielder Domingos Quina did his chances no harm.

Given a recently appointed head coach, a decent performance against a top six side followed immediately by a dismal one, this XI could throw up a few surprises.

I'm going for Foster; Janmaat, Dawson, Kabasele, Holebas; Doucoure, Capoue; Hughes, Cleverley, Deulofeu; Gray. The Capoue, Doucoure partnership is probably set in stone, everything else is potentially up for grabs.

What have you made of Wolves from afar, and do you think the Europa League is having a serious impact on their season?

RG: It’s been strange watching Wolves this season. Obviously expectations are high after their last campaign, but they are clearly suffering from having to juggle Europa League football with their Premier League responsibilities.

I’m not worried for them though, I think ultimately they’ll get out of the relegation zone comfortably and I expect them to start picking up wins soon. They’re definitely far too strong a squad to go down. However, there just seems to be a bit of spark missing at the moment.

I’m sure Nuno will find it soon.

JB: A lot of people that I've spoken to predicted Wolves to struggle this year. This mirrored comments seen on social media.

At the time I put this down to lazy assumptions that having to go through Europa League qualification automatically means a poor start to the league season.

I'm honestly surprised that Wolves have started so poorly and I fully expect them to get out of trouble. They have the talent to do so. I just hope that doesn't start on Saturday!

Your match prediction?

RG: I can’t split the two sides to be honest and neither side has exactly excelled so far this season, so I’m going to predict an exciting 2-2 draw.

JB: I'm not expecting an immediate resolution to our defensive troubles, so I'm going for a reasonably bold 2-2 draw!

You can follow Ryan on Twitter here. If you want to follow Jason, you can do so on Twitter here.