Preview: Watford vs. Coventry City - prediction, team news, lineups

Both sides have improved their form of late and both enjoyed victories in their most recent league fixtures, with Watford defeating Cardiff City and Coventry seeing off Blackburn Rovers.

Match preview

Headed goals from Francisco Sierralta and Ismaila Sarr completed a comeback in Cardiff for Watford on Wednesday night as they left South Wales with a 2-1 win and three points that meant they entered the top six in the Championship for the first time since Slaven Bilic took over from Rob Edwards eight games ago.

Things did not start swimmingly for the Hornets' new boss as they lost two of their opening three, but four wins in their last five have seen them climb to a position that the club's hierarchy would see as a minimum requirement by the final kick in May.

Despite the improvement in results recently, Bilic bemoaned his side's sloppiness at the start of proceedings at the Cardiff City Stadium which allowed the hosts to take an early lead through a Cedric Kipre header, although he praised his team for then dominating the rest of the game and being deserved winners on the night.

Watford would love to continue a run of two wins on the bounce in front of their home fans by getting the better of Coventry on Saturday, with the most recent of those victories coming in emphatic fashion by beating local rivals Luton Town 4-0 at Vicarage Road nearly a fortnight ago.

With things beginning to click between a talented group of players, the Watford fans will be hoping their team can further close the gap between them and the automatic promotion places before the World Cup break in three matches' time.

Jamie Allen's second goal of the campaign secured a noteworthy three points for Coventry at home to Blackburn on Wednesday night, lifting the club out of the bottom three and into 20th position in the second tier.

There were doubts the match would be fulfilled due to the company owning the Coventry Building Society Arena going into administration earlier this week, but the Championship show went on and provided a crucial three points for Mark Robins's side, who have endured a disruptive start to their campaign due to ongoing issues at their home ground.

The Sky Blues have won four of their last six in the league, propelling them out of the bottom three even though the West Midlands club still have two games in hand over the vast majority of teams in the division, with it possible that they go as high as 10th if they were to win those postponed fixtures.

Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres has resumed his role as leading marksmen for Coventry after a breakout season last year, currently topping the goalscoring charts with five strikes from 16 appearances so far this campaign, whereas dynamic midfielder Gustavo Hamer is continuing to show glimpses of immense quality, with no better example than his solo run and finish at Stoke City two weeks ago.

Watford Championship form:

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Coventry City Championship form:

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Team News

Watford captain Tom Cleverley confirmed on Wednesday that he recently underwent surgery for an Achilles injury and will not be back in action until February as he begins a three-month rehabilitation process.

There were no fresh knocks picked up during the win at Cardiff on Wednesday night, but Jeremy Ngakia (hamstring) and Rey Manaj (leg) both remain out and may not feature until after the World Cup break.

Coventry boss Robins is not expecting to see striker Martyn Waghorn in his matchday squads until post-World Cup after he sustained a hamstring injury in the win over Sheffield United, a game in which the experienced forward scored the winner from the penalty spot.

Wing-back Fankaty Dabo is another player that will not be seen until December when the Championship resumes after he tore his thigh in the 2-2 draw at Rotherham United two matches ago.

Watford possible starting lineup:

Bachmann; Gaspar, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Kamara; Gosling, Kayembe, Sema, Pedro, Sarr; Bayo

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Wilson; Rose, Doyle, Panzo; Eccles, Hamer, Sheaf, Bidwell; Allen, O'Hare, Gyokeres

We say: Watford 2-0 Coventry City

After an early-season wobble, Watford are beginning to show why they were promotion favourites at the start of the season as they look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League under the new stewardship of Bilic.

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