Watford are gearing up for a daunting showdown against Antonio Conte-headed Chelsea side on Saturday. The Hornets came out with hard fought point against Southampton as they showed laudable resilience and determination to dig deep and thwart the dominant Southampton team. Walter Mazzarri was impressed with the fight shown by his troops and will be working harder than ever on the training pitch to inculcate the 3-5-2 formation in the team. Incidentally, Watford had taken the lead against the run of play when Etienne Capoue volleyed home after the Saints defence switched off for a split second. While they got their mojo back and equalized through new signing Nathan Redmond, Watford held on with 10 men for the last 15 minutes.
A similar sort of display and much more will be required if Watford are to take anything from the match against the Blues. Antonio Conte and Walter Mazzarri have met 7 times in the Serie A as managers and the Watford boss has won only one, pointing at things to come. Conte has won three and drawn three out of six matches he faced Mazzarri while being the Juventus manager. The Blues boss has an imperious record and has lost just one of his last 31 league games as a club manager.
HERE IS THE PREDICTED WATFORD LINE-UP VERSUS CHELSEA (3-5-2)
DEFENCE
The ever reliable Heurelho Gomes will take up his position between the posts and in all probability will have the busiest game. His shot stopping skills will be key and Watford need him to be in top form. Craig Cathcart will be on the right-side of the back three with Sebastian Prodl looking to marshall from the middle and Miguel Britos will be on the left-hand side.
MIDFIELD
The width will be provided by the hardworking full-backs. Nordin Amrabat will line up on the right-hand side and Jose Holebas is expected to take up his position on the left side of midfield. The midfield duo looking to provide cover to the back three and also tasked with spreading the ball out to the wings will be Behrami and Guedioura.
ATTACK
Etienne Capoue will continue in his new role behind the strikers as he looks to bring in a physical aspect in their attack play. He will look to build on his well-taken goal last week and hope to contribute offensively in successive weeks. The front two will be the usual suspects- Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney, as they will look to capitalise on the few chances that fall to them against Chelsea.
