Daniel Bachmann: 8
Another brilliant performance from Watford’s new number one. He made crucial saves in the first half and in the second, while his distribution also improved.
He is certainly justifying Rob Edwards’ decision to select him over Maduka Okoye.
Ken Sema: 7
Sema had a quieter game going forward, however he looked solid defensively. He struggled when he was required to move onto the right hand side but on the whole, he did not do much wrong. His set pieces were dissapointing as well.
Craig Cathcart: 7
Cathcart struggled on the ball and gave the ball away at times, however he was defensively sound for the majority of the game.
Francisco Sierralta:7.5
The Chilean faced a physical battle throughout and coped well. He won most of his headers and made some big tackles. While at times this season he has looked a little bit shaky, he put in a good performance at Deepdale.
Christian Kabasele: 7
Similarly to Cathcart, Kabasele was poor on the ball however defensively had a good game. It will be interesting to see what role he has to play if Watford bring in defensive reinforcements.
Hassane Kamara: 6.5
Kamara returned to the starting eleven after his suspension against Birmingham City. Kamara thrived for Watford last season when playing at left-back, however this season he has found it difficult when mostly playing on the right. Some of his crosses were disappointing however he was rarely troubled by the Preston forwards.
Edo Kayembe: 7
Kayembe grew into the game throughout. During the first half, he was a little slow at times when getting the ball out of his feet to progress the ball forward. By the end though, he was putting challenges in and supplying the balls forward to start attacks. He’s slowly coming into his own this season.
Hamza Choudhury: 7
The Leicester City loanee has impressed since coming to Vicarage Road a few weeks ago. He continued his good form with an assured display in the middle of the park. He also made some crucial challenges to break up the Preston counter attacks.
Yaser Asprilla: 8.5
Asprilla was the best player on the pitch. He set up two great opportunities for Manaj and was a constant threat. He has a bright future ahead of him and could play a key role going forward in this Watford side.
Eventually he came off with what appeared to be a knock and Rob Edwards will be hoping it is nothing too serious.
Rey Manaj: 5.5
Despite some strong hold up play, Manaj missed the best opportunity in the game when through on goal in the second half. Despite being on his weaker foot, he blasted his shot over the bar as a frustrated Rob Edwards looked on. He will have to improve if he is to nail down a starting spot.
Vakoun Bayo: 5.5
Similarly to Manaj, Bayo missed a great chance when through on goal, however he could only hit it straight at Freddie Woodman. He struggled to win headers and found it difficult to bring others into play. It was a disappointing display from Bayo.
Substitutes:
Gosling: N/A
Hungbo: 6.5
Rob Edwards:7.5
The Hornets have gradually improved in every game that they have played this season. Tactically, the players are beginning to understand the system a lot more and are executing the game plans much better.
The only problem though, is that Edwards still lacks the players that will really fit into the side to take Watford to the next level. For example, with no right wing-back in the squad with the pace required for the system, Edwards has had to play Hassane Kamara out of position.
It will be a big few weeks during the remainder of the transfer window, where the manager will need to be backed if he is to rebuild Watford this season.