Watford vs Bristol City preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch

Bristol City will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they travel to Watford on Saturday. They have lost all four of their last games, the latest being when Sheffield United knocked them out of the FA Cup on Wednesday.

Watford are coming off the back of a tough week after a defeat at home against Queens Park Rangers and a goalless draw away to Coventry City. Hornets boss Xisco Munoz promised a change to their system yet this is something fans are still looking for.

The Hornets currently sit in fourth, seven points from the automatic promotion places while the Robins are in tenth six points from the play-offs. Both sides will be looking to for all three points to close down the gap.

Team news

Watford will welcome the news that Kiko Femenia is nearing a return, a final assessment being made today but it is looking likely that the full-back will be available for the game following his two match absence. New signing Dan Gosling has also been training with the squad this week after building up his match fitness and is available for selection.

A broken finger keeps goalkeeper Ben Foster on the sidelines for the time being and defender Christian Kabasele will not be returning to the action for at least another week as his treatment continues for the bone bruising to his knee. Isaac Success, who has had a lengthy spell out with hamstring problems played 45 minutes for the Under 23's earlier in the week in further steps towards recovery. Tom Dele-Bashiru continues his rehabilitation after suffering an ACL injury in October.

Bristol City manager Dean Holden had everyone available for their cup tie against Sheffield United on Wednesday night. However Alfie Mawson was shown a red card for a handball in the area so will be suspended for Saturday's fixture.

Ryley Towler made his debut for the Robins in the cup tie in one of five changes made by Holden.

Predicted lineups

Watford:

Bachmann (GK), Femenia, Sierralta, Troost-Ekong, Masina, Sarr, Cleverley, Hughes, Sema, Deeney, Joao Pedro.

Bristol City:

Bentley (GK), Hunt, Kalas, Mariappa, Moore, Massengo, Williams, Lansbury, Semenyo, Wells, Diedhiou.

Ones to watch

Francisco Sierralta only joined the Hornets in September and after making his first appearance in December, he has had an instant impact on the team and made the starting lineup every game since. According to WhoScored he has a high pass success rate of 85% and a strong defensive record.

According to BBC Sport, Bristol City's Antoine Semenyo has scored three goals, assisted six and created 17 chances for the Robins so far this season, making him a crucial element in their form in front of goal. The 21-year-old has found his feet in the first team this season after a spell out on loan with Sunderland last year.

Previous meetings

The reverse fixture between these two sides was extremely uneventful. The teams played out a 0-0 draw at Ashton Gate with Watford dominating the possession yet failing to test the goalkeeper with only one shot on target. At the time of this match Bristol City were up in third just three points behind the league leaders Norwich.