- Watford are unbeaten in nine competitive home games (W5, D4)
- Sunderland have won five of their six Championship matches this season
- Recommended bet: Draw

Following an impressive start to the season, the wheels have threatened to come off for Watford over recent weeks and the Hornets now face a tough clash with high-flying Sunderland at Vicarage Road in the Championship on Saturday.

Tom Cleverley's side started the campaign with five wins in a row across all competitions but they have failed to triumph in any of their four outings since, although they did put up a spirited display last time out when going down 2-1 at Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

Sunderland have also started the season strongly and they will head to Hertfordshire having won five of their six league games to date, a sequence that leaves them second in the standings, just a point behind leaders West Brom.

Team news

Watford remain without first-choice goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann, who is expected to be out of action until next month with a muscle strain so Jonathan Bond should continue between the sticks.

Defender Francisco Sierralta is also sidelined with a muscle issue he picked up inside the opening 10 minutes of last weekend's defeat at Norwich.

Sunderland could hand a debut to new signing Aaron Connolly following the forward's arrival on a free transfer earlier this week, but they remain without the services of defensive duo Ajibola Alese and Jenson Seelt.

The stats

After winning their opening five matches of the season across league and cup, Watford are now without a victory in any of their last four games, three of which have ended in defeat.

The Hornets are hard to beat on home soil, as they have avoided defeat in each of their last nine competitive games at Vicarage Road (W5, D4) since losing to Coventry in early March.

Sunderland have won five of their six league games under new head coach Regis Le Bris, although the sole defeat was in their last away fixture — a 3-2 reverse at Plymouth.

Watford are unbeaten in their last six home meetings with Sunderland, although four of those games have ended in draws.

Two of the last four meetings between these two sides have finished all-square. 

Prediction

Watford's form may be trending in the wrong direction but they put up a morale-boosting display against Manchester City during the week and that, coupled with their impressive home record, means they will be confident of avoiding defeat on Saturday.

However, the same is also true of Sunderland, who are five wins from six in the league and that run includes convincing away successes at Cardiff and Portsmouth.

The Black Cats are certainly in good form, but this will be the first time they have visited a team from outside the Championship's current bottom five this season and their record at Watford is not great.

Le Bris will be hoping his young side can deliver in Hertfordshire, but with four of the last six meetings between the two sides at Vicarage Road finishing all-square, the draw could be the order of the day once more.

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