Watford vs Norwich City prediction, preview, team news and more | EFL Championship 2020-21

Watford go into this EFL Championship game against Norwich City with yet another brand new manager.

Former boss Vladimir Ivic was sacked earlier this week with Xisco Munoz replacing him in the hot seat.

The Hornets have now welcomed in 10 managers in the last five years.

They currently sit fifth in the Championship table, nine points behind league leaders and Saturday opponents Norwich City.

The Canaries are five points clear at the summit of the league and a win this weekend will ensure they go into the new year in pole position.

“We have a good team, we need to change something and do better. If we continue with the attitude we have had in these two days, then we will have good moments in the future.”@28xisco28 💬

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) December 23, 2020

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Watford vs Norwich City Head-to-Head

This will be the first fixture involving the two clubs since they were relegated from the Premier League last season.

Watford won both of those games last season and haven’t lost on home soil to the Canaries since 2015.

This will be the seventh league fixture between the two teams in a row.

Norwich have beaten the Hornets 42 times in their history, losing and drawing on 29 other occasions apiece.

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Watford vs Norwich City Team News

Both Dimongos Quina and Craig Cathcart are out with long-term injuries and will not be available for selection this weekend.

Will Hughes could come back into the side while Joao Pedro could re-enter the matchday squad as he continues his recovery from injury.

Injured: Isaac Success, Tom Bele-Bashiru, Dimongos Quina, Craig Cathcart

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Norwich are flying high in the league but their injury list remains quite long.

However, they have recently welcomed back a number of first-team players from the injury table who could feature this weekend. These include Jordan Hugill, Luka Rupp and Tom Cantwell, who scored against Cardiff last time out.

Injured: Sam Byram, Kieran Dowell, Onel Hernandez, Bali Mumba, Adam Idah, Tim Krul, Xavi Quintilla

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

💬 "They have lots of quality and experience and they want to go up to the Premier League. We have a chance and we'll go there to perform at our best."

— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) December 24, 2020

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Watford vs Norwich City Predicted XI

Watford predicted XI (3-5-2): Ben Foster, Jeremy Ngakia, Ben Wilmot, Christian Kabasele, Will Troost-Ekong, Ken Sema, James Garner, Etienne Capoue, Tom Cleverley, Ismalia Sarr, Joao Pedro

Norwich City predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Michael McGovern, Max Aarons, Grant Hanley, Christoph Zimmerman, Jacob Sorensen, Oliver Skipp, Alex Tettey, Emi Buendia, Mario Vrancic, Todd Cantwell, Teemu Pukki

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Watford vs Norwich City Prediction

Any club needs time to adjust under new stewardship, not least during a busy Christmas schedule.

Xisco may have come in at the start of the week but that’s still not a lot of time for his new squad to buy into his tactics.

Norwich have got a number of key players back, and the Hornets may be subjected to their fifth loss of the league campaign.

Prediction: Watford 1-2 Norwich City