West Bromwich Albion – Watford

West Bromwich will try to beat Watford at home

The final encounter of the second matchday of the Championships will see clubs whose names have flashed prominently in the Premier League over the last few years. In addition, Watford played in the elite English division back in May this year, but found themselves uncompetitive in the top flight. Having picked up just over twenty points with Norwich, the Hornets now have to prove their professional worth in the Championship. The visitors to the upcoming match have lost several players since leaving the Premier League. For example, Norwegian forward Joshua King has left the team. In his place, the club brought back a rather skilful Nigerian forward Isaac Saxess from Udinese. Overall, Watford's personnel situation can be described as stable, and Welsh coach Edwards is faced with the task of putting the players' heads in order after last year's debacle. The Hornets played a decent first round, defeating stalwart Sheffield United at home. Overall, the match was even, and a goal from young Brazilian Joao Pedro was enough for the final success. West Bromwich were among the favourites to win promotion last season and lived up to expectations for a while. However, the second half of the season was disappointing for the Baggies, with the final round locking the club in tenth place. In this case, the club's management felt that the current squad can solve difficult problems and made no attempt to make major changes, neither in the lineup, nor on the coaching bridge, where the experienced Steve Bruce remained in charge. WBA started the current championship with a tough trip to Middlesbrough. They played on the Riverside with focus on defence, conceded first, but managed to level the score early in the second half and bring the match to a draw. It is likely that the defensive tactic will be applied in the upcoming game as well. When predicting an encounter between roughly equal opponents, one should not overlook the potential psychological instability of Watford's players. After being relegated from the Premier League and winning their opening game in the Championship, the Hornets could be a bit relaxed and not properly tuned for the upcoming match. All the more so when it comes to playing West Bromwich. We'll bet on the home side to win with handicap (0).