Watford’s FPL assets appeal for Double Gameweek 35

Watford consigned Fulham to the Championship on Wednesday evening with a 4-1 win over the Cottagers at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets followed up their heartening performance at Old Trafford on Saturday with a second-half hammering of Scott Parker’s side, with the hosts’ final three goals being scored in the space of 12 minutes.

Watford now blank in Gameweek 33 but their Fantasy assets will come back into the reckoning soon after, with Javi Gracia’s side being one of eight clubs who enjoy a Double Gameweek 35.

Their fixtures within that Gameweek (Huddersfield Town away, Southampton at home) are arguably the best of that octet of teams, too.

Not one of the Hornets’ players costs more than £6.0m in Fantasy Premier League at the time of writing, furthering their appeal to FPL managers and particularly to those who plan to use the Bench Boost chip in Gameweek 35.

Our Scout Notes article below recaps the events of Watford’s third straight home league win from a Fantasy perspective.

Watford 4-1 Fulham

• Goals: Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.9m), Will Hughes (£4.9m), Troy Deeney (£5.9m), Kiko Femenia (£4.2m) | Ryan Babel (£5.5m)
• Assists: Will Hughes, Andre Gray (£5.9m) x2 | Ryan Sessegnon (£6.0m)

The much-feared widespread rotation didn’t materialise at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night as Watford played their final Premier League match before their FA Cup semi-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

Javi Gracia’s first-choice front six all started against Fulham, while the back four that had been rested at Old Trafford at the weekend all returned for this win over the Championship-bound Cottagers.

Gerard Deulofeu (£5.7m) and Roberto Pereyra (£6.0m) were withdrawn at half-time without being able to contribute to the goal-fest but their substitutions seemed less about preservation for the trip to Wembley than a reaction to a below-par and heavy-legged first-half performance from the Hornets.

Gracia said:

In the first half, yes [I was angry]. I didn’t like what I saw.

We didn’t keep possession, we didn’t find the right balance, we didn’t adjust well in our movement. After, in the second half, we felt better, we felt more possession, created more chances, scoring more goals. That was the key to winning the game.

We changed two players, but not only that. I think it was important to adjust the movement and the shape. In the first half, we didn’t keep the shape and we lost all the challenges. We needed to adjust positions, movements and we made two substitutions. In that moment, I think we felt more comfortable on the pitch. We created the chances we needed to win the game.

The Watford boss did add that Pereyra “felt pain in his hip” but with almost two weeks before the Hornets are in action again in the Premier League, the Argentinean winger at least has ample time to recover should it only be a minor twinge.

Deulofeu has started 15 of the last 16 top-flight games for Watford, only being benched for the trip to Manchester City when his manager made seven changes.

Owners of the “out of position” FPL midfielder may be more nervous about his first-team prospects in the weeks ahead, however, as understudy Andre Gray (£5.9m) came off the bench to set up two of Watford’s second-half goals and inject some much-needed urgency into the hosts’ display.

Gray now has four attacking returns in his last six substitute appearances in the Premier League and also emerged from the bench to score the winner in the FA Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace.

Gracia acknowledged that Gray merits more first-team opportunities based on his current form:

Andre Gray has been very, very important in the last games and I know he is a very good player for us.

At this moment he is helping the team and I think he is only focused on the way to help the team.

For the next game, we will see what happens. I have to take difficult decisions after the performance today. I always try to choose the best option for the next game.

He deserves to play more.

Troy Deeney (£5.9m), who Gray superbly set up for Watford’s third goal, added to the calls for his fellow striker to be given more starts:

Dre comes on and we naturally play better as a two.

At the start of the season, we started up front [together] and everyone could see how potent, how dangerous that is.

We just complement each other. It’s more natural for us, not trying to discredit anyone else. You could see the one-twos in and around the box, we just know where the other one is.

He’s banging on the door. I wouldn’t want to be the manager trying to tell him he’s not playing on Sunday! I’m all for playing up front with Dre.

Gray also supplied the assist for Kiko Femenia‘s (£4.2m) 74th-minute goal and had three shots on his own, the best of which was superbly kept out by Sergio Rico (£4.4m).

Deulofeu, whose displays have perhaps dipped since his hat-trick at Cardiff, registered just one attempt on goal and no key passes in his 45-minute showing.

The former Everton midfielder wasn’t alone in producing a mediocre first-half performance and the Hornets received muted boos as they left the pitch at half-time.

Abdoulaye Doucoure‘s (£5.9m) fantastic strike was a rare highlight before the interval but that was swiftly cancelled out when Ryan Babel (£5.5m) rounded Ben Foster (£4.6m) to equalise.

The exertions of their match at Old Trafford perhaps caught up with the Hornets but there was at least a heartening response in the second half and after a rollicking from Gracia.

Will Hughes (£4.9m) volleyed in a Goal of the Month candidate to kick-start a three-goal blitz, with ten of Watford’s 15 shots coming in the final half an hour.

The former Derby County midfielder may be a budget option to consider for Gameweek 35 but it should be said that his excellent strike came from his only shot of the game, while his “assist” was for Doucoure’s solo first-half goal.

Hughes’ minutes-per-chance rate (102.4) is by some distance inferior to those of Deulofeu, Pereyra and Doucoure this season, while he also lags behind his three team-mates for key passes.

Doucoure caught the eye again and now has as many attacking returns (11) as he registered in 2017/18.

Having played in an advanced role in Manchester at the weekend, the French midfielder was again given license to bomb forward ahead of Etienne Capoue (£4.8m) and no Watford player on show on Tuesday registered more penalty box touches or attempts on goal.

Doucoure registered seven shots and 11 penalty box touches across his two Gameweek 32 appearances, having only previously recorded four goal attempts and one touch in the opposition area in 2019.

It will be interesting to monitor Doucoure’s role in the FA Cup semi-final and in Gameweek 34, as he would be a possible differential candidate for Double Gameweek 35 should his more attacking mindset continue.

Deeney perhaps wasn’t quite as effective as usual (not many of Watford’s players were) but he improved after Gray’s introduction and he now has seven attacking returns in his last six Premier League appearances – as many as he managed in the first 26 Gameweeks of the season.

Watford’s defence still doesn’t massively convince and it is six matches without a clean sheet for the Hornets, who have conceded more big chances and headed opportunities than any Premier League team in 2019.

Only Fulham have allowed more shots in the box and efforts on target this calendar year, meanwhile.

Watford were indebted to Foster for an excellent save from Jean Michael Seri (£4.9m), while the fit-again Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.4m) had a remarkable nine attempts on goal.

Femenia is perhaps a budget defender to monitor, however, should Pereyra’s injury prove to be serious – the Watford right-back was pushed forward into a wide-midfield position when the Argentina international was hooked at half-time and indeed played there in Gameweek 30.

The relegated Cottagers now take a back-seat until Gameweek 34 but there may be interest in Everton’s attacking assets a week on Saturday, given that Parker’s side are conceding at a rate of 2.54 goals per game in 2019 and are without a clean sheet in that time.

The interim Fulham boss hinted at mental fragility after full-time, saying:

We played well first half but ultimately the second half, after the second goal goes in, it’s a snapshot of our season. It sums it up. We’ve played well in spells in games, but that ten-minute period or so was really poor.

We can’t weather a storm. In the Championship you get away with it, but in this division you’re not getting away with it.

I’m sure there’s a mental issue. When you’re at the bottom, everything becomes a lot harder. There’s been a naivety in certain instances of certain games, and that was prevalent tonight.

Parker again rolled out a 3-4-3 for this encounter, with Sessegnon and Babel flanking Mitrovic in attack.

Babel recorded his sixth attacking return since joining in January and no FPL midfielder has had more big chances than the Dutchman from Gameweek 23 onwards.

Watford XI (4-4-2): Foster; Femenia, Mariappa, Cathcart, Holebas; Doucoure, Capoue (Quina 78′), Hughes, Pereyra (Janmaat 45′); Deulofeu (Gray 45′), Deeney.

Fulham XI (3-4-3): Rico; Chambers, Le Marchand, Ream (Seri 72′); Christie, Cairney (McDonald 87′), Zambo, Bryan; Babel (Schurrle 81′), Mitrovic, Sessegnon.