Watford

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Mike Parkin, From the Rookery End podcast

This wasn’t the sort of record-breaking season we wanted.

In losing to Leeds on Saturday, Watford equalled their record of nine straight home defeats, previously set in 1971-72.

The Hornets won at the 10th time of asking during that campaign, but there can be precious few Watford fans who don’t expect that record to be broken next week against Brentford.

Watford’s home form, particularly the performances against teams in and around the relegation battle, has been abject and these capitulations are the reason the Hornets will be playing Championship football again next season.

With a few exceptions, the campaign has provided little cause for optimism, and even the most hopeful of Hornets will have had their dreams of a miracle escape well and truly shattered on Saturday afternoon.

The focus now has turned to assessing what sort of squad we’ll have next season and, of course, who will lead them. It’s pretty grim at Vicarage Road, but at least things are never dull.

Do you think Watford can still survive or have you given up hope? Let us know

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• Watford are the first side to lose nine consecutive home matches in the Premier League since Wolves between January and April in 2012, while the only previous time they had lost nine home league games in a row was between December 1971 and March 1972.

• Since returning to the Premier League last season, Leeds have picked up 25 points in their eight Premier League matches against promoted clubs (W8 D1), with their 2.8 points per game average the highest of any side in such matches in that time.

• The Hornets have lost 12 home league matches in a single season for the first time in their history.

• Leeds are the only Premier League team not to lose a single game against a promoted side since the start of last season.

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Matthew Howarth, BBC Sport

As was the case in their reverse at Anfield in their previous game, poor finishing cost Watford dearly in Saturday’s damaging defeat by Leeds.

Having gone close on a couple of occasions prior to Raphinha’s first-half opener, Ismaila Sarr should have equalised when he was played in on goal by Joao Pedro but instead blazed a wild effort into the stands behind Illan Meslier.

It was an effort that summed up the Hornets’ plight – they have now lost nine consecutive league matches at Vicarage Road and scored just six goals on home soil since beating Manchester United 4-1 on 20 November.

If they can’t better their tally of seven points from a possible 45 at home this season, they have no hope of avoiding the drop.

Leeds were not at their best on Saturday but, in the words of their head coach Jesse Marsch, “endured a tough moment” against the Hornets to lift themselves further clear of the relegation zone.

Resilience and defensive organisation are traits we are not used to seeing from the Whites – this was their first clean sheet in 18 Premier League matches – but they are qualities that stand them in good stead for the rest of the campaign.

Watford boss Roy Hodgson: "We had a chance to get back into the game, but then unfortunately we conceded the second goal and it was always going to be very difficult after that, because obviously we became more open.

"I find the scoreline harsh – I don’t think we deserved to lose this game 3-0 on the team’s performance today but we have lost it 3-0, so that’s what I have to come to terms with.

"I don’t think the challenge has altered enormously – that’s a few more points that we could have had that we haven’t taken. There are seven games left, four of them at home, and the players have got to find a way of putting this game behind them."

We are bringing you live text and radio commentary of Watford v Leeds United, plus the rest of Saturday's Premier League action.

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

Roy Hodgson keeps faith with the Watford side that lost 2-0 at Liverpool last weekend. Joao Pedro keeps his place up front, with Emmanuel Dennis on the bench.

Watford XI: Foster, Femenia, Kabasele, Samir, Kamara, Louza, Sarr, Sissoko, Kucka, Hernandez, Joao Pedro

Subs: Bachmann, King, Cleverley, Masina, Cathcart, Dennis, Kalu, Sierralta, Kayemba

Leeds make one change to the team that drew 1-1 at home to Southampton last time out. Robin Koch comes into midfield in place of Adam Forshaw, who misses out altogether.

Leeds XI: Meslier, Ayling, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas, Klich, Koch, Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison, James

Subs: Klaesson, Struijk, Phillips, Gelhardt, Hjelde, Cresswell, Summerville, Greenwood, Kenneh

Mark Lawrenson takes on Manchester City fans Tom Ogden and Joe Donovan from indie band Blossoms in the latest round of Premier League predictions.

Lawro's prediction: 1-2

Watford were actually very competitive against Liverpool last weekend, they just didn't take their chances at Anfield.

It's not away from home where Watford are really struggling though - they have lost their past eight league games at Vicarage Road since beating Manchester United 4-1 in November, and have the worst home record in the top flight.

If they are going to stay up then that needs to change, and quickly, because five of their remaining eight games are at their place, starting with this one.

I actually think Leeds will beat them, though, because they seem to have got their mojo back.

Jesse Marsch has done extremely well since taking charge and picked up seven points from their past three games. Another win here would make them pretty much safe.

Kalvin Phillips should be able to play more of a part - and maybe even start - after coming off the bench in last week's draw with Southampton. His return to fitness is definitely going to help.

Tom's prediction: 1-0

Joe's prediction: 1-0

Find out how Lawro, Tom and Joe think the rest of the weekend's fixtures will go

Watford manager Roy Hodgson says he's able to pick from a fully fit squad for the visit of Leeds.

The Hornets are boosted by the return of Kwadwo Baah from a long-term ankle injury.

Leeds will still be without Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo, Jamie Shackleton and Tyler Roberts.

Joe Gelhardt has not trained every day this week but manager Jesse Marsch hoped if he was able to train on Friday then he would be available.

Choose your Hornets XI

Pick and share your Leeds side

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave discuss the latest from the world of fantasy football, including who you should be captaining in Game Week 32.

Plus Jonathan Woodgate joins the podcast to chat about his love for the fantasy game and play a game of Sutton Death.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Roy Hodgson says his team need to win games, "starting on Saturday", if they are to survive.

The Watford boss said: "We need points. We are at the wrong end of the table. If we're going to survive, we've got to win games.

"Saturday is another opportunity for us and we are playing at home.

"We are playing against a Leeds side who are good, and have had some very good results under the new manager Jesse Marsch."

The Hornets are second from bottom and three points adrift of Everton with eight games to go following the Toffees' defeat against fellow strugglers Burnley on Wednesday. Hodgson said: "That means we stay in touch with Everton.

"We lost a bit of ground to Burnley, who gained points on us. So it pushes us back a place in the table but with eight games to go.

"The gap between Burnley, Everton, Watford and Norwich is not enormous."

Despite suffering four successive defeats, Hodgson has praised his team for their continuing improvement.

"Reactions are when your team has done badly, or you feel your team has not worked hard enough," he explained.

"I don't think I want to use the word reaction after what I've seen from the team at Southampton and Liverpool."

Roy Hodgson has been speaking to the media before Watford host Leeds on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Hodgson says he has a "fully fit squad" for Saturday, adding: "It's quite incredible the work the doctors and the physios have done here this late in the season."

• On the relegation battle, he said: "The gap between Burnley, Everton, Watford and Norwich is not enormous. If we're going to survive, we've got to win games."

• He described opponents Leeds as a "good" side, who "have had some very good results under the new manager Jesse Marsch".

• Despite being captured this week on social media getting an assist for Pedro in training, he says he "rarely kicks the ball these days" and he added: "I'm not as good a kicker of the ball as I thought I once was, after an ankle injury. But this must have been an aberration."

• He says he needs to see a "similar performance" to the Southampton and Liverpool games this weekend.

Follow Thursday's Premier League manager news conferences

• Watford have won their past two home league games against Leeds, most recently a 4-1 victory in August 2014. The Hornets had only won one of their first eight against the Whites at Vicarage Road (D3 L4).

• Leeds are looking to complete their first league double over Watford since the 1999-00 season, which was also the last campaign the sides met in the Premier League.

• Watford have lost their past eight home Premier League matches, with Wolves the last side to have a longer home losing streak, losing nine in a row between January and April 2012. The Hornets have only lost nine consecutive home league games once before, between December 1971 and March 1972.

• Since returning to the Premier League last season, Leeds United have picked up 22 points in their eight Premier League matches against promoted clubs (W7 D1), with their 2.75 points per game average the highest of any side in such matches in that time. They are also the only Premier League team not to lose a single game against a promoted side since the start of last season.

Watford welcome Leeds United to Vicarage Road in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Hornets lost 2-0 to Liverpool last weekend, but manager Roy Hodgson says his side still have "more to give" in their battle for survival.

Emmanuel Dennis was on the bench at Anfield, but should he start on Saturday?

It's time to choose your Hornets side to face Leeds

It's a busy week of commentaries across BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra coming up, with the first legs of the Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals, plus huge games at the top and bottom of the Premier League.

Tuesday, 5 April

• Manchester City v Atletico Madrid (20:00)

Wednesday, 6 April

• Chelsea v Real Madrid (20:00)

• Burnley v Everton (19:30, Sports Extra)

Thursday, 7 April

• West Ham Lyon (20:00)

Friday, 8 April

• Newcastle v Wolves (20:00)

Saturday, 9 April

• Watford v Leeds (15:00)

Sunday, 10 April

• Newcastle v Burnley (14:00)

• Manchester City v Liverpool (16:30)

All times BST

Newcastle are targeting Watford winger Ismaila Sarr in the summer. (Sun), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

You can now watch all the highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven matches in the Premier League.

Stream on BBC iPlayer

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• Liverpool have won their past seven home Premier League games against Watford by an aggregate scoreline of 24-1. Only against Bolton (an ongoing run of 10 starting in March 2003) and Newcastle (a run of eight between March 1995 and March 2002) have the Reds embarked on a longer winning streak against an opponent at Anfield in the competition.

• Watford have lost 13 of their 14 Premier League away games against sides starting the day in the top two of the table, winning the other at Arsenal in January 2017 (2-1).

• The Reds have kept five consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League for a second time under Jurgen Klopp, previously doing so in January 2020 (a run of seven).

• Fabinho has scored six goals in his past 16 games for Liverpool, having scored four goals in his first 142 appearances.

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Neil Johnston, BBC Sport

This was Liverpool's first game since a mural paying tribute to Mohamed Salah was unveiled a stone's throw away from Anfield. The giant artwork features two celebrations from the Egypt forward's Reds career.

Salah must have fancied his chances of adding to his season tally of 20 Premier League goals on Saturday against Watford.

He didn't. Yet such is the depth of Jurgen Klopp's squad these days that when one player is not firing on all cylinders, you can be sure another is.

Diogo Jota scored the first goal and won the penalty for the second as the Reds made it 10 Premier League wins in a row.

It was far from vintage Liverpool but at the start of what could be a pivotal month for the Reds, the result was far more important than the performance.

The win put Jurgen Klopp's side on top of the table for a couple of hours before Manchester City quickly returned to pole position by beating Burnley later.

Nevertheless, those two hours still felt like a significant moment after Liverpool had trailed City by 14 points on 15 January.

It sets up next Sunday's meeting between the best two teams in England at Etihad Stadium perfectly.

For Watford, time is starting to run out.

They are working hard and stayed in the match at Anfield until Fabinho's 89th-minute penalty made it 2-0.

Yet they remain stuck in the bottom three with eight games left, including matches at Manchester City and Chelsea.

They also have the worst home record in the top-flight, which is not good news when their next two games - against Leeds and Brentford - are at Vicarage Road.

Watford boss Roy Hodgson says his side have "more to give" as they fight to stay in the Premier League.

The Hornets remain in trouble in the relegation zone after losing 2-0 against title-chasing Liverpool at Anfield.

They are three points from safety with eight games of the season left although Everton - the team immediately above them - have three games in hand.

"There was a lot there we can take forward. We have to take anything good into our last games," added Hodgson after his side's 20th league defeat of the season.

"We've got more to give."

Liverpool scored their opening goal moments after Juraj Kucka had been denied by a fine save from Alisson, while Joao Pedro wasted a glorious chance to equalise before the home side doubled their lead.

"The spirit is good," added Hodgson. "That was shown in today's performance and the last one against Southampton.

"They are prepared to work hard enough. We just need to produce the quality football to score the goals."