Watford vs Aston Villa preview: Joao Pedro and Joshua King ruled out for Hornets

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Watford vs Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Team news

Watford will be without strike duo Joao Pedro and Joshua King as they host Aston Villa on their Premier League return.

Pedro (knee) is missing while King will have to wait to make his Hornets' debut due to a minor groin issue.

Nathaniel Chalobah is also absent through illness but Peter Etebo, Imran Louza and Emmanuel Dennis could be in line to make their competitive debuts.

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Aston Villa will check on striker Ollie Watkins before heading south after the striker took a bang to knee during pre-season.

New signing Leon Bailey has had to isolate since arriving from Jamaica but trained on Thursday and will go straight into the squad, while fellow new face Emi Buendia is fit after an adductor issue disrupted his own build-up to the campaign.

Douglas Luiz is yet to return from the Olympics while Morgan Sanson and Bertrand Traore are short of fitness as they continue to recover from injury.

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How to follow

Follow Watford vs Aston Villa in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel at 5.15pm.

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Opta stats

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• The away side has won just two of 18 top-flight league meetings between Watford and Aston Villa (D5 L11), both happening in the Premier League era: Watford 0-1 Aston Villa in 1999-00 and Aston Villa 2-3 Watford in 2015-16.
• Watford have lost their opening league match in just one of the last 14 seasons (W7 D6) since losing six consecutive such games between 2001-02 and 2006-07. Their one defeat in the last 14 seasons came at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in 2019-20 (3-0).
• Aston Villa have won their first Premier League match in four of the last five seasons, winning 1-0 against Sheffield United last season. However, they have only won one of their four opening day Premier League matches against newly promoted teams (D1 L2), a 1-0 away win at Bournemouth in 2015-16.
• Watford had the best home record in the top four tiers of English football last season, picking up 59 points from their 23 games (W19 D2 L2). The Hornets have also won six of their last 11 at Vicarage Road in the Premier League (D2 L3), including a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in that run.

Jones Knows' Prediction

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Since Xisco Munoz was appointed in February, Watford won 18 of 26 their Championship games, taking more points than any other Championship side (57) in that period as they relentlessly grabbed the second automatic promotion spot. It was a season built on a strong rearguard, the best defence in the Championship last season, conceding just 30 goals. This will be a big step for Munoz though. Rarely do promoted teams that play defensive football flourish under such an inexperienced boss and he must know he's probably only six games away from the sack at any point this season.

Saying that, Dean Smith is probably under similar pressure to deliver results after the club reinvested the money generated from the Jack Grealish sale. A frontline of Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey is an exciting prospect. However, such upheaval rarely has an instant impact and Villa look like a team to me that will steadily improve as the season wears on. I'm on the fence here.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1

BETTING ANGLE: Back the draw (23/10 with Sky Bet)

The Essential Football Podcast: 21/22 Premier League season preview

The Premier League is back! New signings, new teams, old rivalries resumed and fresh hope, all to the sweet sound of full stadiums. Kate Burlaga is joined by Nick Wright and Gerard Brand to preview another nine months of drama in the top flight.

PART 1: Are City still the side to beat? And who will challenge them? Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool assessed

PART 2: Will the north London gloom lift? Leicester in focus and surprise package: Leeds, Aston Villa and Everton tipped

PART 3: How will promoted trio Brentford, Watford and Norwich fare? Plus: New managers assessed, and can West Ham deal with European distraction?

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