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Tag: Watford

  • Dele-Bashiru sets Watford target

    Dele-Bashiru sets Watford target

    Tom Dele-Bashiru is optimistic Watford can return to the Premier League at the end of the 2020-21 Championship campaign.

    The Nigeria U20 midfielder teamed up with the Vicarage Road outfit on a six-year deal from Premier League side Manchester City in the summer of 2019.

    Dele-Bashiru struggled to break into the Hornets’ first team as the Vicarage Road outfit were relegated from the English top-flight last season after finishing 19th on the table.

    “Hopefully I can break into the team this year,” Dele-Bashiru told the club website.

    “I’ve been working hard in training and I think the Championship will be a good opportunity for me to showcase my talent, so hopefully I can secure a starting place in the team.

    “I’ve been keeping fit over the summer, I just went to Manchester to see my family and I was working with my personal trainer there. I feel fitter than I was last year, I feel ready to go, so hopefully, I can show that on the pitch.

    “It’s a good feeling to be back out there. We’ve been working hard in training to gel as a team, trying to understand how each other play.

    “We haven’t had that long to work on stuff, so we just have to work hard together, understand what the manager wants us to do straight away and apply that on the pitch.

    “It’s looking good so far, everyone’s working hard, working together, because we know what the goal is and that’s to get back in the Premier League, so that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

  • EPL: City win leaves Watford vulnerable to relegation

    EPL: City win leaves Watford vulnerable to relegation

    Watford failed to ease their relegation fears in the wake of Nigel Pearson’s surprise sacking as they were hammered by a Raheem Sterling-inspired Manchester City.

    Defeat means the Hornets’ battle to stay up will go to the final day of the season on Sunday, when they visit Arsenal.

    Pearson became the Hornets’ third managerial casualty of the campaign on Monday, leaving Under-23 coach Hayden Mullins and his assistant Graham Stack in charge for their final two games.

    And they could hardly have had a tougher first assignment than against City, who completed the double over them with this win, at an aggregate score of 12-0 – a joint Premier League record for one team against another in a single season.

    Sterling took the game away from the home side before half-time, firing in a rising shot to open the scoring before doubling the advantage by following up his own saved penalty – awarded for a foul on him by Will Hughes.

    Phil Foden added a third after Ben Foster had parried a Sterling shot before Aymeric Laporte nodded in from Kevin de Bruyne’s free-kick.

    City’s fourth straight league win could have been even more emphatic but Gabriel Jesus had an injury-time header ruled out for offside.

    This could well be important to Watford, with goal difference potentially a crucial deciding factor going into the weekend.

    The defeat leaves the Hornets 17th, three points above Aston Villa and Bournemouth – all three clubs have the same goal difference of -27.

    A Villa victory over Arsenal later on Tuesday will mean the Hornets start Sunday in the bottom three, with their fate no longer in their own hands.

    BBC

  • Watford player Adrian Mariappa contracts Coronavirus

    Watford player Adrian Mariappa contracts Coronavirus

    Watford defender, Adrian Mariappa has confirmed contracting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

    The Hornets confirmed on Tuesday that one player and two staff members were among six people in England’s top-flight that tested positive for Covid-19.

    Mariappa has now revealed that he has contracted the virus but is yet to figure out how he got it after ‘barely leaving the house’ during the lockdown.

    He said; ”Ever since I got my positive result back on Tuesday, I’ve been scratching my head to try to work out how I might have got coronavirus.

    ”It was a big surprise because I haven’t left the house, apart from some exercise and the odd walk with the kids. I’ve mainly just been homeschooling and keeping fit.

    ‘My lifestyle is very quiet, certainly no parties or going out or anything, so I don’t know how I got it. Like most people, we’ve been having more deliveries of food and things, so maybe that’s one way, and my partner has been to the supermarket a few times.

    ‘The club doctor called to tell me and, to be honest, I did ask whether it could be 100 per cent accurate or whether my results could have got muddled up. Maybe if I had been displaying any symptoms then it might have made sense.

    ‘But in my head, it wasn’t adding up.’

    ‘But I’ve not had any symptoms and I’ve felt as fit as ever, probably fitter because I’ve been working hard. I’ve been following my training programme and I’ve not felt out of breath or ill, or anything.

    ‘We’ve been fully monitored the whole time and the club have been able to track our distances and things. I’ve been excelling in all of that and feeling great.

    ‘It’s quite scary how you can feel fine and not really have left the house, and yet still get the virus. If it wasn’t for the fact I had gone back to training and had this test, then I’d never have found out that I had the virus and I would just be getting on with things as normal. That’s quite a strange thought.’

    According to reports, Mariappa will now isolate for a week before having a new test.

  • Transfer: Watford sign Gueye on five-year deal

    Transfer: Watford sign Gueye on five-year deal

    Watford have signed 21-year-old French midfielder Pape Gueye on a five-year deal from Ligue 2 side Le Havre.

    Gueye’s contract with Watford will be effective from 1 July.

    His deal with Le Havre expires in the summer but the second division was cancelled on Tuesday, when the French prime minister banned all sporting events until at least September.

    Watford say an “official pre-contract agreement has already been lodged” for the French youth international.

    The Hornets are currently one place above the Premier League relegation zone, on goal difference, and last played on 7 March before football was postponed in the UK because of the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Watford captain faults Man Utd for selling Lukaku

    Watford captain Troy Deeney says Manchester United were wrong to sell Romelu Lukaku.

    The Belgian has impressed this season at Inter Milan.

    And Deeney says: “The hit they took on Lukaku is mad, when you think about it.

    “They let Lukaku go and then they had to go and get Ighalo. Iggy has hit the ground running there, he will always score goals. But yeah, Lukaku?

    “They’re both my boys. Look at his goal record. And what’s he paid to do? Score goals.

    “When he was at Everton, ‘Ah, we need someone like him, he’d be great at United’ then you get him and it’s, ‘Ah, his first touch is bad’ but he scored like 60 goals, you know? ‘Nah, not good enough. His touch isn’t good enough.’”

  • Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp reacts to Watford loss

    Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp reacts to Watford loss

    Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp commented on the team losing to Watford (0: 3) in the 28th round English championship match.

    The Reds saw their first loss after a series of 44 games.

    “They did exactly what they wanted to do, we did not. That’s how football works,” Klopp said in an interview.

    “The first half was a tough one, a lot of second balls, running here and there, we had the ball a lot but we didn’t come in the right positions to cross, the right positions to finish, against a really good, organised side, with a top set-up for this game,” he added.
    Liverpool, with 79 points, leads the Premier League standings. The next match the club will play on 7 March at its home field against Bournemouth.

    Liverpool did not lose in the championship of England for 44 matches. Klopp’s team’s unbeaten run included 39 wins and five draws. Prior to this, tits last defeat was inflicted in January 2019 by Manchester City (2:1). Liverpool were close to breaking Arsenal’s record, which once had 49 matches in a row before being defeated.

  • EPL: Watford hand Liverpool first defeat of season

    EPL: Watford hand Liverpool first defeat of season

    Liverpool’s hopes of remaining unbeaten for an entire Premier League season were ended in sensational style by a rampant Watford at Vicarage Road.

    Jurgen Klopp’s side were chasing a record-breaking 19th straight league win but were well below par and only registered one shot on target.

    Watford, who started the game with only Norwich below them in the table, created the better chances and finally took the lead their play deserved nine minutes into the second half when Ismaila Sarr poked home Abdoulaye Doucoure’s cross from the left.

    On the hour mark, Watford’s record-signing made it two when he raced clear and superbly dinked the ball over Alisson.

    The Senegal international then turned provider when he intercepted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s back pass and laid back for Troy Deeney to guide the ball into the net.

    It was the second time in a week that Liverpool have gone behind and had their invincible league season put under threat, but unlike against West Ham on Monday they could not turn it around.

    Victory for Watford sees them climb out of the bottom three on goal difference, going above Bournemouth, who had earlier drawn 2-2 with Chelsea.

  • Tottenham play goalless draw at Watford

    Tottenham play goalless draw at Watford

    Watford’s Troy Deeney had a penalty saved as his side drew 0-0 with Tottenham at Vicarage Road, extending the hosts’ unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven matches.

    Paulo Gazzaniga dived low to his right to deny the Hornets captain following Jan Vertonghen’s handball in the second half.

    Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster saved from Nathaniel Chalobah and Lucas Moura before half-time to thwart Jose Mourinho’s side, who have now gone four league games without a win.

    Deeney had headed a good chance straight at Gazzaniga just before the break, while Abdoulaye Doucoure shot into the side-netting early in the second half.

    Watford substitute Ignacio Pussetto, making his debut for the club, cleared an Erik Lamela effort off the line in stoppage time at the end of the match.

    Winger Pussetto, a £7m signing from Udinese, had only been on the pitch for just over a minute when he slid in to hook away with almost the whole ball over the goalline.

    The Hornets, who were bottom of the table when manager Nigel Pearson took over in December, move up to 16th, while Spurs are seventh.

    BBC

  • I left Premier League because of money – Ighalo

    I left Premier League because of money – Ighalo

    Former Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, has admitted that he left Premier League side, Watford to join Chinese side, Changchun Yatai back in 2017 because of ‘money’.

    Ighalo scored 33 goals in 82 matches for Watford during his spell at the English club.

    “There’s lot of reasons I went there [China]. I wasn’t playing much in Watford and I did not want to keep sitting on the bench,” Ighalo told the Watford Observer.

    “Watford fans don’t know it but I had an offer from Crystal Palace on the table and West Bromwich but the club was looking for big money and that’s why I accepted Changchun Yatai at the time. So, instead of me sitting down there and not playing I had to move.

    “When the opportunity came for me I accepted it because China could pay what Watford wanted. But this is past tense now. I am happy and Watford are happy because they made a lot of money with me. And they are still my team in the Premier League.

    “I don’t know about other players. Maybe they go there for different ambitions. Me? Yes, I went there for the money I am honest but I don’t know why other players go there for.”

    He added: “The league is really growing, they have a lot of foreign coaches and players who improve the league.

    “All I can say is that the Chinese Super League is improving every day and I am very happy about my choice. Regrets? No everything is going well, I am happy there and working hard.”

  • Salah scores twice as Liverpool sink struggling Watford

    Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah kept up his scoring streak against Watford on Saturday at Anfield in a 2-0 win.

    The Egyptian scored a brace as the English Premier League (EPL) leaders sealed victory over the bottom club.

    The win restored Liverpool’s 11-point advantage over second-placed Leicester City, who host Norwich City later in the day.

    It was however Watford’s fourth defeat in five games, and it left new manager Nigel Pearson’s side rooted to the bottom of the table.

    Liverpool took the lead with a typically lethal counter-attack in the 38th minute as Sadio Mane collected the ball on the left and released Salah.

    He sprinted towards goal before cutting in and curling a shot home with his right foot.

    Mane thought he had doubled the lead five minutes after the break, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) showed he was marginally offside when nodding in from Xherdan Shaqiri’s whipped cross.

    Salah then scored his eighth league goal against Watford in five matches with a brilliant back-heeled effort in added time to secure the three points for Juergen Klopp’s side.

    The visitors had earlier missed the chance to go ahead when Abdoulaye Doucoure mishit his shot after Etienne Capoue escaped the offside trap to set him up.

    Watford had scored only nine goals in the league coming into this game, and the reason for that became evident when poor finishing cost them yet again.

    An unchallenged Ismaila Sarr scuffed his shot after goalkeeper Alisson Becker parried Gerard Deulofeu’s cross.