Watford vs West Ham: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
By Tom Gott
Two sides in miserable form will butt heads on Tuesday when Watford and West Ham go head-to-head in the Premier League.
Watford lost four on the bounce before seeing their last three games all postponed due to Covid-19, so Hornets fans will simply be glad to see their team in action for the first time in 18 days.
As for the visitors, they are on their own run of three straight defeats in all competitions, the most recent of which was a bitterly disappointing 3-2 loss at the hands of struggling Southampton at home on Boxing Day.
Here's everything you need to know about this one.
How to watch Watford vs West Ham on TV/live stream
When is kick off? Tuesday 28 December, 15:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Vicarage Road
TV channel/live stream? Amazon Prime (UK), Peacock Premium (US)
Highlights? Amazon Prime Video Sport YouTube channel. Match of the Day (BBC - UK)
Referee? Darren England
VAR? Martin Atkinson
Watford team news
Watford are over the worst of their Covid-19 outbreak, although the Hornets have confirmed that a number of unnamed players have recently tested positive and will miss out.
As far as injuries are concerned, Francisco Sierralta is back after overcoming a hamstring injury, but Ben Foster (groin), Ismaila Sarr (knee), Christian Kabasele (calf), Peter Etebo (quad) and Nicolas Nkoulou (hamstring) will all miss this one.
Read Watford's predicted lineup here.
West Ham team news
The Hammers will have to make do without star midfielder Declan Rice, who is suspended for this one after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.
Kurt Zouma (hamstring), Angelo Ogbonna (knee) and Aaron Cresswell (back) all remain sidelined.
Read West Ham's predicted lineup here.
Watford vs West Ham head-to-head record
After a few years of exchanging victories, West Ham wrestled control of this fixture in early 2019 and have won their last three against Watford, the last of which came in a 3-1 triumph towards the end of the 2019/20 season.
Watford won the meeting before that, securing an impressive 2-0 victory away from home in December 2018, while their last win over West Ham at Vicarage Road came 13 months earlier.
There's rarely a shortage of goals when these two sides meet. The last three games have seen a combined 13 goals, and not since September 2009 have these two teams failed to conjure up more than one goal.
Watford vs West Ham score prediction
Watford's mystery Covid absentees make this pretty hard to predict as it's impossible to guess what their team will look like, and that's before you consider the impact 18 days off could have.
The Hornets are likely to be a little rusty, which could be a problem against a West Ham side who were dealt somewhat of a reality check against Southampton. David Moyes will demand an emphatic reaction and he'll fancy his chances of getting one.
The return to the starting lineup of Michail Antonio, who ended his scoring drought off the bench against Southampton, could be key.
Prediction: Watford 1-3 West Ham
