Choudhury Faces Albrighton In Championship Clash
- Hamza Choudhury helps Watford to victory over West Brom
- Marc Albrighton also starts in the Championship fixture
- Ayoze Pérez started his first game for Real Betis in La Liga
- George Hirst features for Ipswich Town in League 1
- Kasey McAteer makes his AFC Wimbledon debut
The defensive midfielder steered the Hornets to a first win in four Sky Bet Championship games, following three successive draws. Playing 71 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers, he featured throughout the stalemate against Burnley.
Slaven Bilić’s men climb back into the second-tier play-offs as a result. A trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United (3pm kick-off) is up next for the Hertfordshire outfit.
Leicester loanee Marc Albrighton, meanwhile, started for West Brom in Monday’s game, playing the first half at Vicarage Road. Conor Townsend and Jed Wallace scored for the Baggies in the second half, but a Ken Sema brace and Ismaïla Sarr’s goal secured the three points.
Albrighton also started both games the previous week as West Brom lost 2-0 away to Birmingham City, before a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at The Hawthorns.
Carlos Corberán’s side sit 10th in the Sky Bet Championship table, four points outside the play-offs, ahead of hosting high-flying Middlesbrough on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
Over in Spain, Ayoze Pérez helped Real Betis to a thrilling 3-2 away victory over Almería, with the Spaniard introduced just two minutes before Andrés Guardado scored the winner at Estadio Mediterráneo.
The winger then started his first game for the club as Betis beat Valladolid 2-1 at the weekend, playing 81 minutes prior to being replaced by Willian José as Sergio Canales’ goal proved to be the winner at Estadio Benito Villamarín.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side sit fifth in La Liga on 37 points from 22 games, prior to travelling to Elche on Friday evening (8pm kick-off).
Back in England, there was also a winning weekend for City youngster George Hirst in League 1 as the forward featured from the off in Ipswich Town’s a 4-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers. The 23-year-old played 68 minutes as the promotion chasers were comfortable victors at Portman Road.
That result followed two successive draws with Bristol Rovers (0-0) – in which the striker came on for the final quarter of an hour - and Sheffield Wednesday (2-2) – a game Hirst started.
The Tractor Boys meet MK Dons at Stadium MK on Saturday (3pm kick-off) as they look to close the eight-point gap to the top two.
Also in the EFL, Kasey McAteer made his AFC Wimbledon debut as a late substitute in the goalless draw with Carlisle United at Cherry Red Records Stadium, and was also introduced in the 0-0 stalemate at Northampton three days later.
A third successive draw was secured against Hartlepool United last weekend, with the midfielder again a substitute, coming on with 10 minutes to play.
An away trip to Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium comes up this Saturday (3pm kick-off), with the Dons sat 13th in League 2 prior to the midweek fixtures.
All times GMT.