Watford will be hoping to get back to winning ways after suffering a rare home defeat against Queens Park Rangers on Monday night. Only one other team have come away with all three points at Vicarage Road, as Watford maintain the best home record across all four divisions. This loss put a stop to extending a four game unbeaten run for the Hornets and they will be searching for all three points on the road against Coventry City this weekend to continue their fight for automatic promotion.
Coventry will be hoping to bounce back after a defeat against Nottingham Forest in the mid-week fixtures. Just four points from the drop zone, City boss Mark Robins will be wanting his team to find a more consistent form for their upcoming games. The Sky Blues are preparing for a difficult run of fixtures, in the next five games they are set to face four of the current top five teams.
Team news
Coventry welcomed back Marko Marosi back into the starting line up against Nottingham Forest who has been on the road to recovery since November where he suffered a facial injury against Cardiff City. However they did face a couple of injury worries throughout their mid-week fixture. Midfielder Ben Sheaf limped off at half time and could be out for up to three weeks. Amadou Bakayoko was also knocked out in the dying moments of the game and required hospital treatment.
Watford boss Xisco Munoz will have more options this week as both Stipe Percia and Isaac Success are back training with the first team squad after hamstring complaints. Full-backs Kiko Femenia and Adam Masina missed the match on Monday night with minor knocks and will be assessed closer to kick-off on Saturday. New signing Dan Gosling is still building up to match fitness levels and will not feature this weekend. Christian Kabasele and Ben Foster will remain out for the next few weeks and Tom Dele-Bashiru's rehabilitation continues.
Predicted lineups
Coventry City
Marosi (GK), Pask, Ostigard, Hyam, McCallum, James, Rose, Hamer, O'Hare, Biamou, Gyokeres.
Watford
Bachmann (GK), Navarro, Sierralta, Troost-Ekong, Ngakia, Sarr, Chalobah, Cleverley, Hughes, Deeney, Joao Pedro.
Ones to watch
Coventry City's Gustavo Hamer has made 21 appearances so far this season and has been a crucial element of the Sky Blue's squad since joining in the summer. According to WhoScored, he has a pass success rate of 74.6% and has scored five goals and made one assist so far. With an average of 2.1 shots per game he is someone that the Watford team will need to watch out for.
Hornet's skipper Troy Deeney has a strong presence at both ends of the pitch. He is Watford's top goal scorer so far this season with seven goals and despite most of these being from the penalty spot, he has also created chances with three assists. His recent run of form has seen him score three and assist another in their last four games. Deeney will test any defence with his physicality and excellent link up play with fellow attacking players.
Previous meetings
In the reverse fixture at Vicarage Road, a late Ismaila Sarr penalty was enough to secure the win for Watford in a five goal thriller. The Hornets took the lead, fell behind and drew level again with 12 minutes of second half action. Andre Gray opened the scoring for the home side, only for a Hamer header to level things up. Only a minute later, the Sky Blues went ahead when Tyler Walker smashed home his first league goal of the season and then just two minutes after that William Troost-Ekong headed home to put things back on equal terms. Yet a late penalty was given after a Callum O'Hare handball and Sarr ensured the win for Watford.
How to watch
The match kicks off at 12:30 GMT on Saturday 6 February at St Andrew's stadium.
It is being broadcast live on Sky Sports Football.