West Brom v Watford: Flores relishing ´different´ challenge

Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores is eagerly anticipating Saturday’s trip to West Brom as he looks forward to a clash of Premier League styles.

The Hornets had to settle for a scoreless draw at Vicarage Road when the sides met earlier this season and they will be keen to do better this time around as they look to leapfrog West Brom in the table and move further away from the drop zone.

Flores’ men hold an 11-point lead over 18th-placed Sunderland with six more games to go and a win at the weekend should guarantee another year of Premier League football.

However, the Watford boss has warned that it will not be easy to win at The Hawthorns.

“West Brom are a very different team,” Flores told the official Watford website.

“They are playing with a very British style, they are very compact, they reduce the space, they use the long-ball and set-pieces very well, so I know the opponent we are going to find and we will try to play well. 

“I think it’s amazing for the Premier League to have these kind of variants because the styles are completely different. You need to manage things different, you need to plan different, but it’s perfect. 

“There are different cultures, different nationalities, different mentalities, and this is very good for the Premier League.”

Watford will potentially have to make do without the services of Etienne Capoue at the weekend due to a knock.

West Brom, meanwhile, will feel they have done enough to avoid the drop, having hit the 40-point mark, but they are keen to give a good account of themselves in the remainder of the season.

Tony Pulis’ side were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Manchester City last week and Sandro is keen to build on that performance this weekend.

“Everyone wants to push Albion a little bit further forward and playing like we did against City we can definitely do that,” the Brazilian midfielder told the Birmingham Mail.

“We felt a little bit sad because of the result.

“We would have liked to have taken some points from the game but we have to look forward to the next game and stay at this level.”

Chris Brunt is unavailable due to a knee injury, while James Morrison (hamstring) and Salomon Rondon (knock) are doubtful.

Key Opta facts:

– West Bromwich Albion have lost none of their last 15 league meetings with Watford (winning eight, drawing seven).
– Watford have kept 10 clean sheets in the Premier League this season, but just two of these have been away from home.
– West Brom have scored exactly 50 goals in 50 Premier League games under Tony Pulis.
– Odion Ighalo has scored just one goal from 23 shots (excl.blocked) in the Premier League in 2016 (4.3 per cent conversion rate). In 2015, he scored from 13 of his 54 shots (24.1 per cent).
– The average age of WBA’s starting XI in the Premier League this season is 29y 219d old – the oldest in the competition.