The difficulties that Aston Villa have faced this season have been well documented, yet Watford will be desperate for three points as a poor run of form culminated in them being knocked out of the FA Cup by Crystal Palace, whilst manager Quique Sanchez Flores remains heavily under pressure.
Problems all around the club
Aston Villa are already preparing for life in the Championship next season. After their relegation was confirmed against Manchester United a couple of weeks ago, owner Randy Lerner made waves towards selling the club. In the meantime, two directors of football have stepped down as the famous club continue to have problems off the pitch as well as on it.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has been pictured leading a party lifestyle in recent weeks, resulting in the striker losing the captain's armband and being set on boot camp to get back into shape. It sparks memories of Jack Grealish, arguably Villa's most talented player, who was left out in the cold after being pictured making the most of his lifestyle off the pitch earlier this season.
Attack using width, but gaps in defence
Such problems have not helped a club who have been truly dreadful on the field of play; a club who currently have seen more managers take charge than victories this season. Their most recent performance came in a 4-2 defeat to Southampton last weekend. Villa's main mode of attack came down the flanks, as the likes of Carlos Sanchez and Ashley Westwood looked to feed full-backs Aly Cissokho and Alan Hutton.
Despite their ambition down the wings, Villa struggled to create opportunities via wide areas. With their strikers continuously dropping off the Southampton defence, the club from the outskirts of Birmingham were restricted to long range shots. The Watford centre-backs will not often be tested by Villa strikers looking to run in behind their backline.
If Watford are to gain three points, they will have to ensure a narrow midfield are able to come across and support full-backs Allan Nyom and Nathan Ake against Villa's main outlet.
At the other end they will be looking for Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo to exploit gaps that often appear in the Aston Villa defence, despite the experience of Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott. The four goals scored by Southampton were gifted to them by a defence that has no organisation and hold the worst record in the league with 69 conceded from 35 games.