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Villa head coach Dean Smith says the manner of his side's 3-0 defeat at Watford on 28 December "was a big wake-up call for everybody"

    Line-ups Match Stats Live Text

Line-ups

Aston Villa

    29Reina

    15Konsa

    40MingsBooked at 45mins

    30Hause

    24Guilbert

    4DrinkwaterSubstituted forDouglas Luizat 56'minutesBooked at 68mins

    11Nakamba

    18Targett

    17TrézéguetSubstituted forVassilevat 77'minutes

    21El Ghazi

    10Grealish

Substitutes

    5Chester

    6Douglas Luiz

    8Lansbury

    14Hourihane

    25Nyland

    27El Mohamady

    36Vassilev

Watford

    26Foster

    6Mariappa

    4Dawson

    15CathcartBooked at 77mins

    11Masina

    14ChalobahSubstituted forPussettoat 75'minutes

    29Capoue

    37PereyraSubstituted forGrayat 81'minutes

    16DoucouréBooked at 81mins

    7DeulofeuSubstituted forKabaseleat 90+2'minutes

    9Deeney

Substitutes

    1Gomes

    17João Pedro

    18Gray

    20Quina

    25Holebas

    27Kabasele

    33Pussetto

Referee:

Martin Atkinson

Match Stats

Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamWatford

Possession

Home65%

Away35%

Shots

Home16

Away8

Shots on Target

Home5

Away2

Corners

Home6

Away3

Fouls

Home11

Away17

Live Text

Goal!Posted at 90'+5'

Goal! Aston Villa 2, Watford 1. Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box following a set piece situation.

Posted at 90'+4'

Frederic Guilbert (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 90'+4'

Foul by Troy Deeney (Watford).

SubstitutionPosted at 90'+2'

Substitution, Watford. Christian Kabasele replaces Gerard Deulofeu.

Posted at 89'

Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Craig Cathcart.

Posted at 89'

Attempt missed. Matt Targett (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Douglas Luiz with a cross.

Posted at 89'

Attempt blocked. Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anwar El Ghazi.

Posted at 88'

Attempt missed. Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Targett with a cross following a set piece situation.

Posted at 87'

Matt Targett (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 87'

Foul by Abdoulaye Doucouré (Watford).

Posted at 85'

Attempt blocked. Gerard Deulofeu (Watford) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Troy Deeney with a headed pass.

Posted at 84'

Foul by Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa).

Posted at 84'

Gerard Deulofeu (Watford) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 82'

Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 82'

Foul by Andre Gray (Watford).

SubstitutionPosted at 81'

Substitution, Watford. Andre Gray replaces Roberto Pereyra.

Posted at 81'

Frederic Guilbert (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 81'

Foul by Gerard Deulofeu (Watford).

BookingPosted at 81'

Abdoulaye Doucouré (Watford) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 80'

Pepe Reina (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 80'

Foul by Abdoulaye Doucouré (Watford).

SubstitutionPosted at 77'

Substitution, Aston Villa. Indiana Vassilev replaces Trézéguet.

BookingPosted at 77'

Craig Cathcart (Watford) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 77'

Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 77'

Foul by Roberto Pereyra (Watford).

Posted at 75'

Attempt missed. Marvelous Nakamba (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.

SubstitutionPosted at 75'

Substitution, Watford. Ignacio Pussetto replaces Nathaniel Chalobah.

Posted at 69'

Corner, Watford. Conceded by Douglas Luiz.

BookingPosted at 68'

Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.

Goal!Posted at 68'

Goal! Aston Villa 1, Watford 1. Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the high centre of the goal.

Posted at 68'

Attempt saved. Matt Targett (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jack Grealish.

Posted at 66'

Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 65'

Foul by Abdoulaye Doucouré (Watford).

Posted at 63'

Hand ball by Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa).

Posted at 61'

Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 61'

Foul by Adam Masina (Watford).

Posted at 60'

Attempt missed. Trézéguet (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Matt Targett.

Posted at 58'

Attempt saved. Matt Targett (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Frederic Guilbert with a cross.

Posted at 58'

Offside, Watford. Adam Masina tries a through ball, but Troy Deeney is caught offside.

Posted at 57'

Corner, Watford. Conceded by Frederic Guilbert.

Show more updates

goal

TEAM NEWS

Aston Villa will play without a recognised striker for the fourth successive match as the signing of Mbwana Samatta was not completed in time.

Frederic Guilbert could be a doubt because of a tooth problem.

Watford winger Ismaila Sarr has been ruled out after injuring his hamstring against Tottenham.

Danny Welbeck could be involved for the first time since suffering a torn hamstring in October.

    Kodjia completes move to Qatari side Watford performance pleases Pearson

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

@alistairmann01: If Aston Villa had beaten Watford at Vicarage Road less than a month ago, they'd have moved eight points clear of their relegation rivals and would simultaneously had inflicted significant psychological damage too.

Despite the hosts going down to 10 men for more than an half an hour, Villa succumbed limply and even conceded twice after Adrian Mariappa had been sent off.

Watford's momentum has been steadily building since, and just 24 days later they could open up a four-point gap over Villa. It seems a pivotal moment therefore and, with so much at stake, the loser will surely be feeling that little bit more precarious.

VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT

Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith on letting Jonathan Kodjia leave and having to play without a recognised striker: "The lads have got used to it over the last three or four games.

"Jonathan's had a tough season. He came back from the Africa Cup of Nations very, very tired after playing a summer series. He then got injured at Tottenham and has struggled for fitness since due to game time.

"With his contract being up at the end of the season, we hadn't offered him a new one, and so he wanted to look at other avenues and we've allowed that to happen."

Watford head coach Nigel Pearson: "I don't take anything for granted in football, and I don't buy into the thought that just because something happened a couple of weeks ago, it is going to happen again.

"They will want to reverse the last result and because we are both in a difficult situation they will be up for the fight. There is no doubt about that.

"Whenever you play sides in and around your own situation, the benefits of a win are huge and we go into the game with every intention to try and win."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

Villa are on a poor run but I still feel they are more likely to play well and get a positive result when they are in a game that really matters, like this one.

Prediction: 2-0

Lawro's full predictions v Ride bassist Steve Queralt

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

    Watford have won the past three Premier League meetings, scoring three goals in each of those fixtures.

Aston Villa

    Dean Smith's side have only won two of their past 10 league matches, losing six. They have suffered three defeats in four games at Villa Park, conceding 13 goals. All but one of the 22 points earned by Villa have come against sides currently in the bottom half of the table. Jack Grealish tops Villa's Premier League stats this season for goals, assists, shots and chances created. Excluding Anfield, goalkeeper Pepe Reina has kept more Premier League clean sheets at Villa Park than at any other ground, with five in eight games.

Watford

    The Hornets are unbeaten in six league matches, winning four and drawing two. The 14 points they have earned in that period is one more than in their previous 23 games. Watford could secure successive Premier League away wins and three clean sheets in a row for the first time since September 2017. Their tally of eight clean sheets this season is only surpassed in the division by leaders Liverpool. However, the Hornets have also failed to score in a league-high 11 fixtures this season. Troy Deeney has scored five goals in his three Premier League games against Aston Villa, including two in the reverse fixture at Vicarage Road.

Source: bbc.com

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