'The Job Pearson Has Done At Watford Is Quite Remarkable'

Watford will approach Saturday’s game as one in which a positive result is crucial to their chance of retaining their Premier League status, says Watford Observer’s Senior Sport Reporter, Ryan Gray.

2020-06-20T08:17:07.951Z

by Sam Jones

Published

20 Jun, 2020

'The Job Pearson Has Done At Watford Is Quite Remarkable'

Watford will approach Saturday’s game as one in which a positive result is crucial to their chance of retaining their Premier League status, says Watford Observer’s Senior Sport Reporter, Ryan Gray.

Sam Jones

2020-06-20T08:17:07.951Z

'The Job Pearson Has Done At Watford Is Quite Remarkable'

Watford will approach Saturday’s game as one in which a positive result is crucial to their chance of retaining their Premier League status, says Watford Observer’s Senior Sport Reporter, Ryan Gray.

Sam Jones

2020-06-20T08:17:07.951Z

'The Job Pearson Has Done At Watford Is Quite Remarkable'

Watford will approach Saturday’s game as one in which a positive result is crucial to their chance of retaining their Premier League status, says Watford Observer’s Senior Sport Reporter, Ryan Gray.

Sam Jones

2020-06-20T08:17:07.951Z

'The Job Pearson Has Done At Watford Is Quite Remarkable'

Watford will approach Saturday’s game as one in which a positive result is crucial to their chance of retaining their Premier League status, says Watford Observer’s Senior Sport Reporter, Ryan Gray.

Sam Jones

2020-06-20T08:17:07.951Z

- Journalist Ryan Gray assesses Watford’s chances of Premier League survival- Leicester City travel to face the Hornets at Vicarage Road on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off)- Gray discusses Watford’s season and the impact of ex-Foxes manager Nigel Pearson- Live coverage of the behind closed doors encounter begins at 11:30am on LCFC TV, with Steve Walsh, Matt Elliott and Iwan Roberts

Leicester City travel to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Saturday lunchtime (12:30pm kick-off) in a behind-closed-doors fixture - their first since the top flight's suspension due to COVID-19.

While the Foxes are currently third in the table, Watford, overseen by two-time former City manager Nigel Pearson, sit above the relegation zone on goal difference.

“They are going to have to approach it as a game they need to win, they are in a very tricky position,” Gray told LCFC TV's new City On The Sofa show, which is live from 11:30am on Saturday.

“Although the Liverpool result (a 3-0 in February) was good, their form was a little bit indifferent. They started really well under Pearson when he first came in and they have sort of tailed off.

“There were a lot of games where they took the lead and then ended up throwing that away so they were not in amazing form when it (the break due to COVID-19) happened.

“They seem to certainly have togetherness and a bit of focus since the restart date was announced. It gave them a couple of months to look back on the season and look at what went wrong at the start, what they have improved on under Pearson, and how they can continue through the remaining games.”

The performances of Ismaïla Sarr could be key to Watford’s survival chances, according to Gray. The Senegalese winger has 10 goals and five assists in 2019/20, following his move from Stade Rennais.

Gray continued: “Sarr is probably the one Leicester need to worry about the most. He’s still sort of an unknown quantity in the Premier League but obviously his two goals in that Liverpool game, and he also set up the third, has brought a lot of attention to him.

“Without Gerard Deulofeu, who’s injured for the rest of the season, Sarr is going to be someone who they are going to rely a lot on for creating chances.

“Troy Deeney can be a handful but it remains to be seen how much of a part he is going to play on Saturday, simply because of him not coming back to training and having that extra week off. Craig Shakespeare said that he is behind a little bit on his sharpness so we still need to wait and see if that happens.

“And Abdoulaye Doucouré, since Pearson has come in, has been pushed further forward in the midfield, playing a lot more of an attacking role and it’s certainly paid dividends since he’s done that.”

The Hornets were much improved after Pearson took charge in December, winning four of his first six games, which saw the Hertfordshire side climb out of the bottom three.

And Gray believes that, regardless of whether they remain in the Premier League or not, he is the man to take the club forward.

“He’s obviously very fondly remembered at Leicester, a lot of players say he was the catalyst for the Premier League winning season and he’s still got his admirers there,” he added.

“The job he’s done at Watford, especially considering how the team was playing before he came in, is quite remarkable. Not many people gave him much hope of doing what he has done and there is still a lot to play for, for him personally contract wise.

“To get those results - that win against Liverpool, they beat Manchester United as well, he obviously has a knack of getting the best out of players and I’m sure he’ll be able to do that again for the remaining games.”

LCFC TV’s new look matchday coverage gets underway at 11:30am with City On The Sofa, when Dan Bates will be joined by Steve Walsh and Matt Elliott - all observing social distancing rules - while Iwan Roberts dialling in via video call.

Live and free LCFC Radio commentary of the clash in Hertfordshire is available as always, while you can also watch the game live on BT Sport.

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