Watford

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Matthew Howarth, BBC Sport

Having secured third place courtesy of Thursday's 1-1 draw at home to Leicester, Thomas Tuchel made five changes to his starting line-up against the Hornets, handing Kenedy a long-awaited Premier League return for the club and Saul Niguez his first top-flight start since March.

Kenedy repaid his manager’s faith with a lively first-half performance, setting up Kai Havertz’s opener and carving out another opportunity for the German forward late in the first half, which came back off the crossbar.

Dan Gosling’s first Premier League goal for Watford appeared to have earned the visitors a point near the end of a poor second half, but Ross Barkley’s first goal of the season – on his 100th appearance for the club – gave the Blues victory in front of prospective new owner Todd Boehly.

With Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen set to leave in the summer, and Spain internationals Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso linked with Barcelona, Tuchel is expecting "open and honest" conversations with Boehly before a big summer for the club.

Outgoing Watford boss Roy Hodgson, meanwhile, will have enjoyed his team's second-half showing at Stamford Bridge but it was not enough to earn the Hornets a hard-earned point in front of his successor Rob Edwards.

Hodgson, 74, said earlier this month he was planning to retire after leaving Watford - and although he stopped short of ruling out ever returning, he suggested after this game that he would be calling it a day.

Watford manager Roy Hodgson, speaking to BBC Sport: "I thought it was an excellent performance right from the start. We knew it was going to be tough, but I felt we handled it pretty well throughout.

"Unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot again, as we have done on too many occasions, but I’ve got nothing but praise for the players today and admiration for what they’ve done since we’ve gone down.

"I’m hoping to travel and find something else to occupy my time. It’s not an easy thing for me to wean myself off football. It’s something I’m very grateful for and I’ll now pass the baton to the people who are still here."

We are bringing you live text commentary of Chelsea v Watford, plus nine other games, on the final day of the 2021-22 Premier League season.

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You'll be able to catch up with all the post-match reaction on this page after full-time at Stamford Bridge.

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Thomas Tuchel makes five changes to the Chelsea team that drew at home to Leicester on Thursday.

Winger Kenedy is handed his first Premier League appearance of the season, while Saul Niguez makes his first league start since March.

Cesar Azpilicueta, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz also return to the side.

Chelsea XI: Mendy, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, James, Saul Niguez, Kante, Kenedy, Ziyech, Mount, Havertz

Subs: Kepa, Jorginho, Lukaku, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Barkley, Chilwell, Sarr

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Watford make six changes to the team that lost 5-1 to Brendan Rodgers’ side last weekend.

Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann makes his first league start since January, while Samir, Kiko Femenia, Hassane Kamara, Tom Cleverley and Joshua King all return.

Watford XI: Bachmann, Femenia, Kabasele, Samir, Kamara, Sissoko, Kayembe, Cleverley, King, Joao Pedro, Sema

Subs: Elliot, Ngakia, Ekong, Masina, Cathcart, Gosling, Cucho, Sierralta, Baah

It's the final game of a desperately disappointing season back in the Premier League for Watford.

But maybe that's a chance to play with freedom at Stamford Bridge before they head back to the Championship.

So who makes Roy Hodgson's final Hornets line-up? Are some of the players playing to impress new boss Rob Edwards?

Pick your Watford XI to face Chelsea

After more than 20 years, legendary BBC football pundit Mark Lawrenson is making his final set of Premier League predictions this weekend.

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

For different reasons both of these clubs will be glad to see the back of the 2021-22 season.

A return to the Championship awaits Watford, while Chelsea have already secured a top-four finish but will end a turbulent campaign without a trophy.

Neither club really knows what the future holds, either. The Hornets could see a lot of ins and outs over the summer, and the same goes for the Blues squad too.

Find out how Lawro thinks the rest of the weekend's Premier League fixtures will go

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Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel is likely to rotate his squad now that third place has been secured.

Defender Malang Sarr and midfielder Saul Niguez could feature along with youngsters Harvey Vale and Lewis Hall.

Watford forward Cucho Hernandez should be available after missing more than a month with a hamstring issue.

Tom Cleverley is fit again after a rib injury while Josh King and Kiko Femenia have both trained this week after a period out with illness.

Choose your Chelsea XI

Who makes your Watford line-up?

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Roy Hodgson is expecting his last game as Watford boss on Sunday to be "emotional" and admits he will miss it.

Hodgson, who announced he was planning to retire earlier this month, will lead Watford for the final time against Chelsea.

“Every time you leave a job there’s a wave of emotion because you get sort of attached to the people you’re working with," he said.

“The players, I must say, they’ve not let me down at all in the training sessions and what they’ve tried to do in the games, so I’ve still got a lot of respect for them. In that respect it will be emotional (saying goodbye).

“It’s tough, you’re going to miss it and there are going to be days when you get up and think ‘I wish I was back on the training ground’, especially when the sun is shining and it’s nice and warm.

"It’s a bit easier on the days you wake up and it’s pouring with rain and freezing cold."

Roy Hodgson has been speaking to the media before Watford's final Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Sunday will be Hodgson's last game in charge at Watford and he said there is an "element of emotion" when you leave a job. He added that the players have not "let me down" in training sessions or what they have "tried to do in the games".

• Hodgson added that he is "disappointed" things didn't work out at Watford but knew that at the end of the season he would "free myself from the burdens and responsibilities of being a Premier League manager".

• He said it's important his side put in a good performance against Chelsea, even more so after the "real disappointment or debacle" of conceding five goals to Leicester.

• He said the way his side conceded in that game was in a manner "that gives all managers and coaches a nightmare".

Follow Friday's Premier League news conferences

• Chelsea have never lost in seven Premier League home games against Watford (W6 D1), scoring at least twice in all seven meetings.

• The Hornets have lost eight of their past nine Premier League games against Chelsea, including each of the last five in a row since a 4-1 home win in February 2018.

• The Blues hold the record for the biggest victory on the final day in Premier League history, beating Wigan Athletic 8-0 to seal the title in 2009-10.

• Watford’s only victory on the final day of a Premier League season came in their first campaign in the competition in 1999-00 (D2 L4). Of all current Premier League sides, none have a lower win rate on the final day than the Hornets (14%).

The penultimate episode of the season and it's crunch time for fantasy football managers.

Cups, title and bragging rights are all on the line for the final gameweek.

Can Ali overtake Statman Dave and claim the trophy for the third year in a row?

Or will Fantasy 606 be crowning a new champion?

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West Ham United are interested in signing 24-year-old Nigeria striker Emmanuel Dennis from Watford. (Mirror), external

Catch up on the rest of Wednesday's gossip here

Watch all the highlights and analysis from Sunday's seven matches in the Premier League.

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• Watford suffered their 15th home league defeat of the season, the joint-most by any side in a single English top-flight campaign, level with Blackpool in 1966-67 and Stoke City in 1984-85.

• Leicester have won back-to-back Premier League games for only a third time this season, also doing so in October and March.

• The Hornets have conceded 46 Premier League goals at Vicarage Road this season, the most at home by any side in a single campaign in the competition, and most by any top-flight side overall since 1960-61 (Newcastle 49, Chelsea 48).

• James Maddison has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season for the Foxes, his best tally in a single campaign in his career. He also has 17 Premier League goal involvements this term (10 goals, seven assists), also his most in a season in the competition.

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Steve Sutcliffe, BBC Sport

Watford’s hopes of concluding their home fixtures with a flourish finished in embarrassing fashion as they were thrashed by Leicester.

And they could have few complaints by margin of their defeat, with their shambolic defending coming to the fore again and contributing to the Hornets becoming the first club to lose 15 home games in a Premier League season.

With incoming boss Rob Edwards watching from the stands, there were few positives that he or any of the Watford fans could take as they head closer to a summer break and next term in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Leicester and Jamie Vardy appear reinvigorated as the season draws to its end.

Vardy scored twice for the second consecutive match, while the Foxes’ other goalscorers, Harvey Barnes and James Maddison, were equally as impressive.

While Brendan Rodgers’ side have not hit the heights of last season they go into their final two fixtures well placed to finish inside the top 10.