First Blank of Gameweek 31 confirmed by Watford win

Watford confirmed the first postponed fixture in Blank Gameweek 31 with their win at QPR on Friday night.

The Hornets have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which take place on the same weekend as Southampton’s scheduled visit to Vicarage Road.

Watford and the Saints will now not have a fixture in Blank Gameweek 31 and will both experience a corresponding Double Gameweek at some point between now and the end of the season.

The two clubs could end up providing some budget options for our Wildcard squads later in the campaign when Fantasy managers are compelled to stock up on Double Gameweek players.

If Watford vs Southampton is moved to Gameweek 32, it would be better for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side as they would face the Hornets and Brighton, both away from home.

Meanwhile, Javi Gracia’s side would face Southampton (home) and Manchester United (away).

A new date for the postponed Blank Gameweek 31 fixture can only be estimated at this point, but it definitely serves to be aware of their absence from that weekend of action when planning transfers between now and then.

Watford now await the other results in the FA Cup fifth round and Monday night’s draw to see who they will face in the quarter-finals.

How they got on against QPR is the focus of this latest Scout Notes article…

QPR 0-1 Watford

Goals: Etienne Capoue (£4.8m)

Assists: Tom Cleverley (£5.0m)

It was a gritty performance that saw Watford overcome QPR in the FA Cup on Friday night. Their Championship hosts had double the number of shots and also spurned decent chances to find the net.

Thankfully for the Hornets, and Fantasy managers hoping for as many Blanks and Doubles as possible, the Premier League side, mostly at full strength, delivered in the key moments.

Ben Foster (£4.6m) and Craig Cathcart (£4.5m) were given the night off completely, Gerard Deulofeu (£5.5m) was an unused substitute, while Abdoulaye Doucouré (£5.9m) and Adrian Mariappa (£4.2m) came on in the second half at Loftus Road.

Heurelho Gomes (£4.3m), Christian Kabasele (£4.4m), Andre Gray (£5.9m), Tom Cleverley (£5.0m) and Miguel Britos (£4.3m), all of whom have experience as regular Premier League starters, came in to join the other six players who started against Everton in Gameweek 26.

“We are changing players, competitions, some players are injured in different moments, but the most important is always the team compete well and is getting good results. I have the difficult decision to chose only 11 players every game but when they play they show we have a good squad and all of them deserve to play and have recognition.” – Javi Gracia

In a game where Watford managed just six goal attempts, and Troy Deeney (£5.9m) was their top shooter with two efforts, it took some opportune thinking from Etienne Capoue (£4.8m) to settle the tie.

He received the ball just inside the box from a very poor miscued Tom Cleverley (£5.0m) shot and was able to wrong-foot QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley to find the bottom corner.

It was Capoue’s only shot of the game and continues his run of goal-scoring form that seems largely limited to the cup competitions. Four of his last five Watford strikes have come outside the Premier League, two in the FA Cup and two in the League Cup.

Andre Gray (£5.9m) can consider himself very unlucky not to have scored a second goal in as many matches in all competitions. An exquisite through-ball from Deeney sent him clear to round the goalkeeper and slot in from a tight angle but he was incorrectly adjudged to be offside. Other than that, Gray did not register a single shot, which could count against him in his hopes to displace Deulofeu as the second striker in Watford’s team.

It was QPR who were busier in front of goal, although they could not actually find the net.

Nakhi Wells had two great two chances to score but saw one effort saved by Gomes, and placed the other over the bar, while Massimo Luongo spurned an opportunity too.

Crucially, QPR captain Toni Leistner had the chance to level things in the dying moments at the back-post. A Darnell Furlong shot fizzed across goal and the centre-back only needed to get his touch right to make the net bulge, but it cannoned off his right leg and went wide.

For all those reasons, it’s worth saying that Watford were fortunate to record another clean sheet. Much is being made of their recent defensive form in the national media, as they now have six shutouts in their last league and cup matches. Also, the five clean sheets kept in their last six games in all competitions is as many as they mustered in their previous 24.

The Hornets have now come through three away FA Cup ties without conceding a goal, but it must be remembered their opposition were National League outfit Woking, a goal-shy Newcastle side, and now low mid-table Championship club QPR.

And on this occasion, as already mentioned, they probably should have conceded. It’s worth adding that both of those Wells chances were handed to him after mistakes from Jose Holebas (£4.8m) and Kabasele.

We recently highlighted after their 1-0 win over Everton, that the Hornets have belied their defensive data of late to keep three clean sheets in their last four Premier League matches. In that time, just four teams have allowed more shots in the box than them, and with Liverpool and Manchester City two of their next four opponents, Watford’s shutouts could dry up fairly soon.

That said, Gomes did have a strong performance on Friday night deputising for Foster again, earning praise from Gracia on his birthday.

“Heurelho shows his best face in every game he plays. He collected high balls & was in control of his area along with the defence. Today is a good gift for him.” – Javi Gracia

“Today I think Heurelho, Britos and Christian Kabasele were very important to defend well the long balls. They showed their qualities. The rest of the team as well had commitment as usual with big desire to carry on in this competition.” – Javi Gracia

Watford XI (4-4-2): H Gomes; Holebas, Britos, Kabasele, Janmaat; Sema (Mariappa 74′), Capoue, Cleverley (Quina 84′), Hughes; Deeney, A Gray (Doucouré 74′).