Preston are back at Deepdale once again today, this time hosting recently-relegated Watford at Deepdale.
Preston North End vs. Watford
Championship | Deepdale
August 20th 2022 | 3:00pm (UK)
Tuesday’s frustrating 0-0 draw with Rotherham United is still fresh in the mind but North End have to go again today.
Preston’s assault on the Rotherham goal didn’t lead to a breakthrough and the North End players now have to forget about it and try again today.
Watford will be a tough challenge after their relegation from the Premier League, giving Ryan Lowe arguably his biggest test so far this season.
1. Who will North End be facing today?
Watford have started this season with two wins and two draws, giving Rob Edwards an unbeaten league start to life as Hornets boss.
Edwards has utilised a 3-4-3 and a 4-3-3 this season, meaning it’s hard to predict exactly what he will go for at Deepdale.
Ismaila Sarr is winning his race to be fit so that may mean going back to the 4-3-3 utilised against Burnley last weekend.
That would see Daniel Bachmann start in goal with Mario Gaspar, Francisco Sierralta, Craig Cathcart and Hassane Kamara across the back four.
New signing Hamza Choudhury should start in midfield, joining Edo Kayembe and the more advanced Yaser Asprilla in the engine room.
Ismaila Sarr is allegedly winning his race to be fit but Joao Pedro looks set to miss out.
That means Rey Manaj may lead the line in attack with Ken Sema over on the left flank.
Possible Watford XI: Bachmann; Gaspar, Sierralta, Cathcart, Kamara; Choudhury, Kayembe, Asprilla; Sarr, Sema, Manaj.
2. What’s going on with Watford’s attack?
Watford were able to start this season with a truly terrifying front three of Emmanuel Dennis, Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr.
That attack is enough to strike fear into any Championship defence – possibly even some Premier League back lines!
Yet with kick off against Preston just hours away, there is a real chance that Watford are unable to field any of them.
Dennis has been sold to Nottingham Forest, so North End certainly won’t have to worry about him today.
Joao Pedro looks set to miss out with the Brazilian nursing an ankle problem – just as Newcastle United make a push to sign him.
Sarr is the final past of that terrifying triumvirate, but he is still coming back from injury; whilst expected to play, there are no guarantees.
That’s major upheaval in Watford’s front three and whilst the signing of Keinan Davis will certainly help at Championship level, this situation leaves Edwards with some tough decisions.
3. Predicted Preston lineup
Ryan Lowe went with a 3-4-2-1 again in midweek, but did slightly change the personnel for the 0-0 draw with Rotherham United.
Ali McCann dropped out of the team with Daniel Johnson coming into an advanced midfield role.
We would like to see an extra striker utilised at home but coming against a tough team like Watford may mean that Lowe goes with the same again.
Freddie Woodman should start in goal behind a familiar back three of Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay and Andrew Hughes.
Brad Potts and Robbie Brady would then be the wing backs, with both turning in very impressive displays of late.
Those selections seem pretty nailed-on barring any late issues, but things get a little trickier.
Ben Whiteman seems set to start and we’re going with Ryan Ledson to partner him having forced his way into Lowe’s team.
Johnson and Browne weren’t at their best but grew into the game against Rotherham and they may well keep their places in the side today.
Questions continue over the future of Emil Riis, so we’ll back Troy Parrott to start up top again today.
That would leave the likes of Dai Cornell, Patrick Bauer, Greg Cunningham, Ali McCann, Ben Woodburn, Emil Riis and Ched Evans on the bench.
Possible Preston XI: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Whiteman, Ledson, Brady; Browne, Johnson; Parrott.
4. How have Preston fared against Watford?
Despite both Preston and Watford being formed in the 1880’s, this fixture hasn’t actually been all that common.
Just 44 meetings have taken place between Preston and Watford, with only four games between the two teams before their 1962 clash.
Watford did the double over Preston in the 2020-21 season on their way to promotion, but North End’s record against the Hornets hasn’t been too bad.
Before claiming that double, Watford had won just three of the previous 21 meetings with Preston.
North End have won 18 of the 44 games against Watford, drawing 13 and losing 13, with the last Deepdale win coming in the League Cup back in 2015 as Marnick Vermijl grabbed the only goal.
5. Memorable moment
A couple of moments spring to mind in terms of Preston’s home games with Watford over the years.
Andrew Lonergan’s home debut in a thrilling 3-2 win back in 2001 was a classic, whilst Jamie Proctor’s first senior goal on the final day of the 2010-11 season was another great moment.
We’ve gone with Graham Alexander’s thunderbolt against the Hornets back in 2002 though, even if the game only ended in a 1-1 draw.
Played on a Thursday night under the Deepdale lights whilst in the midst of the ITV Digital era, the game ended up feeling like two points dropped in North End’s push for the playoffs.
Yet Alexander’s goal lit up the game, hammering a long-range drive into the roof of Alec Chamberlain’s goal before Gifton Noel-Williams bagged a leveller.
If anybody in Lilywhite wants to channel their inner Grezza and smash a long-range screamer into the Watford net today, that would be great appreciated!
6. What has Ryan Lowe said?
Lowe is unsurprisingly in high spirits after a decent start to the season, with Preston yet to concede in four Championship outings.
Lowe told North End’s official website that he is really excited to be facing Watford and loves to check for when Preston are playing the relegated Premier League teams.
The Preston boss knows the quality Watford have and is expecting an entertaining game – even if Edwards probably can’t wait for the transfer window to be over.
“I’m massively looking forward to it,” said Lowe. “When those teams are coming down from the Premier League you always look at them teams and think ‘okay when do we play them?’ They’ve still got a large part of the squad that they had, albeit there’s a few that have left, and possibly one or two more, I’m not too sure.”
“I think Rob will be looking to see the back of the transfer window because he’s got some quality players in there. But these are the games you want to be in the Championship for, playing the likes of Watford, Burnley, Norwich – the teams that have been in the Premier League for a year or a couple of years, so we’re really looking forward to it and hopefully it’ll be an exciting game,” he added.
7. Who is Rob Edwards?
Watford’s managerial post is something of a revolving door and the latest to try his luck is Edwards.
The 39-year-old guided Forest Green Rovers to promotion from League Two last season and did enough to attracted Watford’s interest.
Before that, Edwards had been coaching England’s Under-16’s, Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-23’s and AFC Telford United.
Some Preston fans may remember Edwards as a former Blackpool fan, as the ex-Wolves defender joined the Tangerines back in 2008 and turned out 59 times for our bitter rivals.
Now an exciting young coach and charged with the task of taking Watford back to the Premier League, Edwards is looking for some rarely-seen stability at Vicarage Road.
8. What has Rob Edwards said?
Edwards has certainly spoken highly of Preston in his pre-match comments, believing North End are ‘very well-coached’ under Lowe and Mike Marsh.
Edwards told Watford’s official site that Preston have a ‘distinct’ brand of football and has liked what he has seen from the Lilywhites this season.
The Welshman added that this will be a ‘really tough game’, highlighting the resilience in the Preston squad.
“They’re very well coached,” Edwards said. “They’ve had four clean sheets which indicates they’re very difficult to break down, but not only that, they’ve got a distinct way of playing, and some good footballers as well.”
“I went to watch them last week and I liked them. They’ve got characters in there, resilience and all of those things you’d expect from a Championship team, but they’ve got a good way about them as well. It’s going to be a really tough game,” he added.
9. A foot in both camps
Remarkably, there are no players in the Preston squad to have played for Watford, and no Watford players who have turned out for North End!
There have been some prominent figures in years gone by though, with Joe Garner springing to mind.
Garner joined Preston on a free transfer back in January 2013 having left Watford, joining his boyhood club.
Garner went on to become a North End hero, scoring 57 goals in 151 games for the club.
Lee Williamson is another who made an impact in a Preston shirt after joining from Watford, playing an important role in the club’s run to the Championship playoffs in 2009.
Nathan Ellington, Clarke Carlisle, Tamas Priskin and Wayne Brown are others to have turned out for both clubs over the years.
10. Who is the referee?
Darren Bond is the referee for today’s game, with the Lancashire official appointed to be the man in the middle.
Bond last refereed a Preston game back in February as Cameron Archer’s goal gave North End a 1-0 win at Hull City.
Bond also officiated three Preston games in the 2020-21 season; the 2-0 home defeat to Millwall, the 1-0 win at Derby County and the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest.
In total, Bond has been in charge of 13 Preston games in his career, going back to the 1-1 home draw with Burton Albion in 2016.