Watford

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Simon Stone, BBC Sport

Roy Hodgson has made no secret of his desire to bring defensive discipline to Watford, believing that if they are to succeed in their quest to avoid relegation it will come through organisation.

The opening period must have come as a nasty shock.

The Hornets seemed unable to cope with a Wolves attack that has never been viewed as one of the more potent in the top flight.

They have won just one of their past 16 league games, missed the opportunity to move level on points with fourth-bottom Everton and, worryingly for them, they have also played more matches than the sides immediately above them and have a worse goal difference.

Wolves, meanwhile, can reflect on having scored three times in the first half of a Premier League game at Molineux for the first time since their April 2019 win over Arsenal.

This was also the first time they have done a Premier League double over Watford.

The result also keeps Bruno Lage's eighth-placed side in with a chance of securing a return to European football two seasons after reaching the Europa League quarter-finals.

Watford manager Roy Hodgson: "Wolves are a quality team. At half-time we were staring down the barrel of a gun.

"It was a wonder chip from Ruben Neves but at 3-0 you are in big trouble. All the goals are mistakes, some are clearer mistakes than others.

"It was disappointing in every respect. We have a very sad dressing room. It gets hard when your players don’t care enough, but we are not in that position yet. We have to hold our hands up that we are not good enough at times, but not that they don’t care.

"These players need to feel anxiety because we are running out of time."

Jonny and Willy Boly make their first Premier League starts of the season for Wolves.

They are two of four changes as Jonny starts for the first time in a year while Boly is involved for the first time since Wolves' League Cup defeat to Tottenham back in September after struggling with injuries.

Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nour also come back into the side.

Wolves XI: Jose Sa, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Jonny, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Ait Nouri, Daniel Podence, Hwang, Jimenez.

Subs: Marcal, Pedro Neto, Trincao, Silva, Chiquinho, Ruddy, Kilman, Dendoncker, Cundle.

Joshua King makes his return from injury to take his place in the Watford starting line-up.

The inclusion of the forward is the only change made by boss Roy Hodgson from the side that lost to Arsenal last-time out.

Watford XI: Foster, Femenia, Cathcart, Samir, Kamara, Sissoko, Louza, Cleverley, Hernandez, Dennis, King.

Subs: Etebo, Masina, Sema, Bachmann, Kabasele, Kalu, Sierralta, Kucka, Kayembe.

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

Watford have 11 matches left to stay in the Premier League. They probably need to win five or six of them to avoid the drop, so games are running out.

The Hornets put in one of their better performances in defeat by Arsenal last time out and they must build on that. The new front three of Emmanuel Dennis, Joao Pedro and Cucho Hernandez was a major positive.

Dennis is the leading scorer and has been a regular all season, but it was the other two who caught the eye.

Pedro just gets better and better. The lean Brazilian oozes class and if the Hornets do go down, they are going to struggle to keep him at the club in the Championship. His ability to drift past players with the ball at his feet is beautiful to watch as his technical ability shines through. A good Arsenal team were struggling to get near him at times.

Hernandez is also a likeable player. Smaller in size, he's like a little pocket rocket bursting forward, using his low centre of gravity and causing havoc. His scissor-kick goal against Arsenal was simply sensational, and not only is he a pest in attack, he works hard for the team out of possession.

If Dennis can return to the form we have seen from him over the season, Watford have a chance. Defensively - as a team - the Hornets have struggled all season. Out of possession they have to be absolutely bang on it all the time and playing at their top level. Any lapses in concentration and they are prone to conceding goals. Mentally - and to a lesser extent physically - this is extremely tough.

But another big positive of the past couple of months has been the form of Hassane Kamara. The £4m January signing from Nice has excelled at left-back. He's quick, good on the ball and defends well. Bukayo Saka was brilliant for the Gunners against Watford, but Kamara still managed to win a lot of their duels.

Watford still have to travel to Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea so this match at Wolves - while not easy - is one of those away games that they could do with getting something from.

Wolves have lost their past three games, and they never really got going against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Goals have been pretty scarce for Bruno Lage's side all season, but I think they will find a way through Watford.

Arsenal beat the Hornets 3-2 last weekend, but the scoreline could have been a lot bigger than that.

Lawro’s prediction: Wolves 2-1 Watford

Ki-Jana Hoever has been ruled out with the hamstring injury that prompted his first-half substitution against Crystal Palace.

With Nelson Semedo unavailable with a similar issue, Jonny Otto could make his first start for a year.

Watford remain without Ismaila Sarr but team-mate Joshua King will be assessed. Both missed the game against Arsenal on Sunday because of hamstring injuries.

William Troost-Ekong is available after overcoming a muscle strain.

Who makes your Wolves team to face Watford?

Pick your Hornets starting XI against Wolves

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave bring you all the latest from the world of fantasy football.

They look at strategies for navigating the next two game weeks, including whether Matt Doherty and Harry Kane should come into your sides.

Dave shows a surprising affection for a certain type of animal.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

• Wolves have lost their past three Premier League games, as many as they’d lost in their previous 13 in the competition (W7 D3 L3) – they last lost four consecutive top-flight games within the same season in 2011-12 (seven).

• Since a run in which they conceded in 17 consecutive away Premier League matches between January 2020 and January 2022, Watford have kept three clean sheets in four away games under manager Roy Hodgson, conceding just once.

• Wolves have conceded six goals in their past four Premier League games, having conceded just five times in their previous 12. Wolves were 2-0 down at half-time against Crystal Palace last time out, having conceded only twice in the first half of their previous 19 Premier League games combined.

• Some 63% of Watford’s points this season have come away from home (12/19), the highest share in the top flight this campaign. The Hornets have lost just one of their past five on the road in the league (W1 D3), having lost 12 of 14 before this run.

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Roy Hodgson says he is longing for that "wonderful day" when Watford can pick up three points even when the "performance is lacking."

The Hornets have scored just four goals under their new manager but have seen an improvement in performances since Hodgson's arrival.

Despite having very few points to show for it, the former England manager praised his players.

"They have worked very hard to buy into some of the thoughts we have.

"We have got no complaints at all but the big problem is turning a decent performances into three points.

"On more than one occasion we have put in a more than decent performance but it's not led to points.

"Then you are back with the old dilemma - you know you need performances to get points, but you are still really hoping for that wonderful day when the performance is lacking but the points are there."

Watford manager Roy Hodgson has been speaking to the media before their trip to Wolves on Thursday.

Here are the key lines:

• Hodgson felt Watford "did a lot of good things" against Arsenal, giving his side something to "take forward".

• He acknowledged that performances have been better but it is now about "turning those performances into three points".

• Boos were heard around the stadium when Imran Louza was substituted in the second half against Arsenal, but Hodgson was full of praise for the Watford fans: "I thought the crowd was good and they tried to will us over the line."

• Despite their struggles at Vicarage Road, the Hornets boss said he believes there isn't a "gulf in performances" when they play at home.

• However, he acknowledged there may be "more pressure to take risks to score goals, because keeping a clean sheet is never going to be enough".

Watford return to Premier League action on Thursday with a trip to Molineux to face Wolves.

Who should make Roy Hodgson's starting XI as his side look to avoid back-to-back defeats?

After scoring twice and taking Arsenal all the way in Sunday's defeat, should the Hornets boss stick with the same line-up?

It's time to pick your Hornets side to face Wolves

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra has you covered across the Premier League and Champions League this week:

Monday, 7 March

• Tottenham v Everton (20:00) - 5 Live

Tuesday, 8 March

• Liverpool v Inter Milan (20:00) - 5 Live

Wednesday, 9 March

• Manchester City v Sporting Lisbon (20:00) - Sports Extra

Thursday, 10 March

• Norwich City v Chelsea (19:30) - 5 Live

• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Watford (19:30) - Sports Extra

Saturday, 12 March

• Brentford v Burnley (15:00) - 5 Live

Sunday, 13 March

• Leeds United v Norwich City (14:00) - 5 Live

• Arsenal v Leicester City (16:30) - 5 Live

All times GMT

Watch highlights from both of Sunday's matches in the Premier league, plus find out who is February's goal of the month winner.

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Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

Watford lost their eighth home game in a row against Arsenal, but this was a much better performance than most of those other seven.

And yet the aftermath of another defeat is one of more fan disenchantment, this time with manager Roy Hodgson.

For the first half hour, Watford were bright and confident. They played some good football and won the physical battle against the Gunners.

The crowd appreciated it and the support was strong and it was welcoming to at last see smiles in the stand. Yes, Arsenal were really threatening going forward but at 1-1 there wasn’t much in it.

Tom Cleverley’s mistake for the second goal completely deflated the team. After all that hard work, Watford couldn’t re-find the same energetic rhythm but at least they were putting up a fight. So there were reasons to be happier.

Except midway through the second half, the supporters were upset by Hodgson’s substitution of Imran Louza and they made it quite clear he wasn’t who they thought should come off. Louza was given a standing ovation by each stand as he walked round around the perimeter of the pitch heading back to the dugout.

Not long after, when Cleverley gave the ball away, Hodgson exchanged words with a fan in the Sir Elton John Stand as to why he was still on the pitch.

Hodgson defended himself post-match (Louza was at fault for the third goal) but his comments certainly haven’t eased tensions. His dismissive attitude towards the fans has not gone down very well at all.

Everyone needs to be in this together if Watford are to survive. Disharmony at this stage of the season is dangerous.

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Newcastle are "very close" to securing their Premier League survival, leaving six teams fighting for relegation, accoring to the Telegraph's Luke Edwards.

Below the Magpies in the table are Brentford, Leeds, Everton, Burnley, Watford and Norwich, with 10 points separating 15th to 20th.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily, Edwards said: "Newcastle have five wins out of six and are eight games unbeaten. They only won one game all season before Christmas so to win five out of the last six is remarkable.

"They are not quite out of it yet but are very close to getting themselves out of it now.

"Then I think it’s out of the six teams and Watford are one of them. Roy Hodgson will make them hard to beat and that’s what they needed. They’ve got the attacking players to crawl over the line though I personally don’t think they will do.

"Of any of the teams in the bottom three at the moment I would fancy Burnley to get out of it just because they are Burnley and it’s Sean Dyche.

"Brentford would be the one for me who are currently out of the relegation zone who I would be worried about."

Hear more on the relegation fight from 33'30 on BBC Sounds

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• Arsenal have won four consecutive away games in the Premier League for the second time under Mikel Arteta (also April/May 2021).

• Watford have lost more Premier League games against Arsenal than they have versus any other side in the competition’s history (13).

• The Gunners have scored in all 16 of their Premier League games against Watford – only against West Brom (26/26) do the Gunners have a better 100% scoring rate in the competition.

• Moussa Sissoko has scored two goals in his last three Premier League appearances, as many as he’d netted in his previous 131 combined.

• Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in more goals than any other under-21 player in the Premier League this season (13 - 8 goals, 5 assists).

Image source, Getty Images

Emlyn Begley, BBC Sport

The Gunners continued their surge up the table with an entertaining, albeit ultimately tense win, keeping them unbeaten in the league since New Year's Day.

They played some really top-quality, slick football, even though they only had four efforts on target and were hanging on in the end after Moussa Sissoko struck.

It could have been so different though had Emmanuel Dennis timed his run better before slotting in Joao Pedro's pass just seconds into the game.

But Bukayo Saka was excellent again and involved in all three goals. He has scored or assisted 13 Premier League goals this season, with only Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz (17) involved in more in Europe's top five leagues among players under the age of 21.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had a big hand in the third goal, too, grabbing the ball after it went out of play and quickly passing it to Saka, who took the throw-in that led to the goal.

Watford played their part in an engaging contest - Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale was the much busier goalkeeper - but have won just once under Roy Hodgson.

They become the fourth team to lose eight successive Premier League home matches, after Sunderland, Wolves and Norwich.