Boro will go hunting for their first home win of the season when
they welcome Watford to the Riverside tomorrow afternoon.
Walter Mazzarri’s side were only promoted from the
Championship two years ago and, despite Watford’s decent start to the campaign,
many will expect Boro to chalk up a first Premier League victory on home turf
since 2008.
With away trips to Arsenal and Manchester City lurking
around the corner, Boro’s home games against the Hornets and Bournemouth in a
fortnights time should carry greater significance, yet Aitor Karanka insisted that
his players can’t play with “pressure”.
“The worst thing we can do is play against Watford and
Bournemouth thinking there is pressure,” said the Boro boss, whose side sit 16th
in the table ahead of this weekend.
“One thing missing is experience, we lost the first halves
against Everton and Tottenham but we have to learn from our mistakes and
continue to play our game, “he added.
Karanaka also spoke positively about his side’s 1-1 draw
away at West Ham before the international break, which ended a run of three
straight defeats.
When asked about tomorrow’s opponents, he spoke about their
extra year of experience in the top flight and expressed his admiration for
Watford captain Troy Deeney, who the Spaniard admitted he tried to sign when he
arrived in England.
Team News
Karanka confirmed that Boro have no new injury concerns,
though Grant Leadbitter and James Husband remain side-lined with long term issues.
Gaston Ramirez and Cristhian Stuani did play for Uruguay
last week but are expected to be involved.
Watford defenders Craig Cathcart and Daryl Janmaat remain
out with a groin and shoulder injuries respectively.
Miguel Britos and Valon Behrami will be assessed after
picking up knocks last week.
The Opposition
Mazzarri, Watford’s seventh different manager in three
years, has made a decent start to Premier League management after arriving at Vicarage
Road in the summer.
The Hornets are 11th with eight points after
seven games, that’s two more than Boro. Last month they stunned Jose Mourinho’s
Manchester United side by recording a memorable 3-1 home victory.
They also beat West Ham at the London Stadium and claimed an
admirable point away at Southampton.
Even so Mazzarri’s side were tamely beaten by Burnley at the
end of September and drew 2-2 with Bournemouth last time out.
Watford usually play an unorthodox 3-5-2 formation which
allows wing-backs to be deployed. That allows Deeney and Odion Ighalo to lead
the line.
One To Watch
Troy Deeney
The Watford captain is an instrumental figure and is likely
to be the visitors biggest goal threat on Sunday.
The burly striker has scored six times against Boro and has
already found the back of the net three times this campaign.
Last Time Out
Watford 2
Middlesbrough 0 - 6/4/2015
Watford won a pivotal game in the Championship promotion
race two seasons ago.
Boro were top of the league with six games to go before
kick-off but fell behind too Troy Deeney’s opener on 37 minutes.
Aitor Karanka’s side rarely looked like recovering in what
was uncharacteristic performance. Odion Ighalo doubled Watford’s advantage with
a spectacular curling effort after the break, as the Hornets moved to the top
of table.
Team I Would Play
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| (Picture from Gazette Boro) |
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