Watford host Birmingham City in the Championship this weekend.
Watford welcome a familiar face on Saturday, with former Hornets captain John Eustace bringing his Birmingham City side to Vicarage Road.
Blues are flying high right now. They’ve taken 11 points from their opening five games of the season to find themsleves in 4th place of the table as things stand, drawing with Millwall in their last outing.
Valerien Ismael’s Watford meanwhile are winless since the opening day of the season. They’ve dropped all the way down to 18th place of the table, but avoided a third-straight defeat with a 3-3 draw at Coventry City last time out.
Here, a handful of our writers make their predictions for the game…
Luke Phelps
“At the start of the summer, few would’ve thought Birmingham City would be in the top six after the opening five, and Watford down in 18th.
“It’s been polarising starts for the two teams but I still think Watford will come good this season, with this month’s break bound to have been a blessing for them.
“But the break would also have been a good time for this new-look Birmingham City side to gel even further, so I think it’ll be a very tough outing for Watford.
“I really fancy Blues to nick this one; they’ve just got too much optimism and quality right now.”
Score prediction: Watford 1-2 Birmingham City
James Ray
“The mood is high in the Birmingham City camp, and so it should be. They’ve started the season brilliantly after a productive summer transfer window and the hope will be they can maintain their form now that the international break is done.
“They’re unbeaten so far this season while Watford are winless in four. I’m leaning towards an away win in this one but we have seen sparks of what the Hornets can offer, so the Blues will have to be on their game.
“It could be a close one but with the opposing forms and moods, Watford might fall to another loss. They’ll struggle here and City might just make their momentum count.”
Score prediction: Watford 0-1 Birmingham City
