This Wednesday will see Watford play at Upton Park for the last time before the home sides move to the Olympic Stadium in the summer. In a way it’s a little bit of a shame that this game has come just a few days before the semi-final as it would have been nice to go there with a full first team and I suspect this has also affected the level of ticket sales. Either way, it’s a shame to see another good old ground destined to become a Tesco’s or a block of flats. Certainly one of my favourite destinations although it could be a little dicey on occasion especially the late 70’s early 80’s! West Ham It’s fair to say that the first season under Bilic has been a massive success with the club still fighting to get in to The Champions League places. Whether they make it or not it certainly has been a fantastic final season at the Boleyn and they seem to be back playing the West Ham way after a few years of some pretty uninspiring football. Much like us, their success has gone under the radar a little due to Leicester City challenging for the title and they’ve quietly gone about their business without much fuss from the papers until very recently. One of the big success stories of the season is without doubt the signing of Diego Payet from Marseille for somewhere between £10m - £15m depending on what you read. According to Wenger he was looking at Payet but decided against it and I imagine he has regretted that ever since as he’s been a revelation in the Premier League this season. A constant menace to most defences he has 9 goals to his name this season and he is certainly a player that we need to keep a close eye on if we are hopeful of returning with anything from the game. The return to fitness and immediate scoring form of Andy Carroll gives West Ham an added dimension to their attacking prowess. On form Carroll is incredibly difficult to stop but off form, as he showed at Vicarage Road earlier in the season, he can be a complete liability. Possible late candidate to make the Euro 2016 squad? West Ham currently have no new injury worries and in fact Sam Byram, James Collins, James Tomkins and possibly Sakho are in with a chance of making it for Wednesday evening Watford With Sunderland winning at Carrow Road on Saturday lunch time and reducing the gap between Watford and the relegation places to 8 points it may have made those supporters of a nervous disposition look warily over their shoulders but thankfully West Brom played they like they did earlier in the season and created very little allowing a morale boosting win and also finally putting to bed any thoughts about relegation. A season of two halves would be the perfect way to describe our first season back in the big time since 2007. Bar an iffy beginning we certainly did not look out of place against anybody and had some memorable results against Liverpool and West Ham along the way. Since the turn of the year it has not been so good but we all knew it wouldn’t be easy so to be safe with 5 games to go is a great achievement. Would be mighty difficult Wednesday evening if we had the first eleven playing but realistically there could be changes in all departments with a lot of fringe players getting a chance so even a draw looks unlikely but you never know Possible teams West Ham 4-3-3 Adrian Cresswell Ogbonna Reid Antonio Noble Obiang Kouyate Payet Carrol Lanzini Watford 4-4-2 – This is utter guess work Pantillimon (Gomes for the cup game) Paredes Prodl Britos Holebas (if fit) Gueds Suarez Behrami Amrabat Oulare Deeney Form West Ham last 5 matches (most recent first): 17/04/16 (a) Leicester 2-2 D 13/04/16 (h) Man Utd 1-2 L 09/04/16 (h) Arsenal 3-3 D 02/04/16 (h) C.Palace 2-2 D 19/03/16 (a) Chelsea 2-2 D Watford last 5 matches (most recent first): 16/04/16 (a) West Brom 0-1 W 09/04/16 (h) Everton 1-1 D 02/04/16 (a) Arsenal 4-0 L 19/03/16 (h) Stoke 1-2 L 13/03/16 (a) Arsenal 1-2 W Surprisingly Our form is actually better than West Hams but they were robbed against Arsenal and arguably against Leicester as well. Our form counts for absolutely nothing due to the fact there will be such a massive change in personnel. Match and player history Most recent history shows Watford having won 4 of the last 7 games between the two sides, losing just once but before this little mini run began in August 2006 it was a very different story with West Ham winning 18 of the previous 21 and only losing one, that memorable Simod Cup game back in 1988!!! In fact West Ham hold the upper hand overall since the first game back on the 26th November 1898 having won 40 games to Watford’s 18 with 12 finishing in a draw. The most recent players to have played for both clubs have only done so fleetingly for one or the other and in fact in Diamanti’s case I will be surprised if he ever sets foot in England again. One success story on the Watford side is Manuel Almunia who was excellent for two years at Vicarage Road before being forced to retire but only joined West Ham for a short spell. Most recently we have gained Behrami who in my view improves Watford whenever he plays and could be vital on Sunday. Malky was of course very successful for both sides as he helped get both clubs promoted to the top division but never played there for West Ham. There are of course many others but finally I feel Stuart Slater deserves a special mention as one of those players who played on Oct 4th 1997 To those going, enjoy Upton Park for the last time and have a safe journey Come on you ‘Orns
Nice write up Knight - One point though - It's not Diego Payet. It's Dimitri Payet - Think you're getting confused with Diego Poyet?
I look forward to our reserves being beaten comfortably and people on here trying their very best to spin the result as proof that we need a new manager next season and that we are still nowhere near safe from relegation.
Hurrah!!! A timely preview!!! Thank you Night G&T. I'm a whisky man myself, but if I am having gin I take it neat, over ice. Excellent write-up. I had no idea Almunia had his brief sojourn with this lot.
A chance for game time for the players that are fresh this season some of which we spent a lot of money on. You'd think players like Berghuis and Saurez would be out to prove a point or two
You say Poyet, I say Payet, You say Diego, I say Dimitri, Poyet, Payet, Diego, Dimitri, Let's call the whole thing off. Anyhoo, This will be a Hammers win I'm afraid. A "plucky" Watford display playing a few fringe players and a style of football that will get us all a bit more excited, but ultimately we won't have enough for a full strength West Ham. 2-1 home team.
3-3. An end of season classic under the lights at the Boleyn. Jacubiak with a brace on his debut stakes a claim for a surprise semi-final place ahead of Ighalo
I agree, except that I think Pants should get some game time in before Sunday. If he gets injured, we have a very capable deputy.
Just for the avoidance of doubt, I'm happy with whatever team we put out but would prefer that we play people who won't start on Sunday, except that I would put Pants in. This match has no bearing on anything as we're safe from relegation and doesn't affect my view that it would be nice to have a more positive head coach next season. We don't have a manager now, and we're unlikely to have one next season either.
You want another manager? Can't wait to hear what witty epithet you come up with when 'Florrie' goes.
I actually thought the West Brom game would have had Pantilimon's name on it, but then again, we could have had a very different outcome, had it been him starting.
Actually looking forward to this one, going along with my Mum as she is a lifelong West Ham fan so glad to be able to give her one last trip to the ground. Hopefully that’s where the niceties end though and we can scrape a result. Will be very tough as West Ham showed against Leicester they are not coasting to the end of the season now hopefully that last min pen has knocked the stuffing out of them and hopefully big Andy is banned for his comments about the ref afterwards. As others mentioned looking to see a few of the ‘fringe’ players step up, I still expect Deeney to start for some reason. Who’d have every thought as a Watford fan we’d be talking about playing a ‘weakened’ team just before a semi-final which involves the likes of Suarez/Amarabat etc. Having said that I think the Hammers will win 3-1 unfortunately.
I'll tell you why not, because I dont like spending money on a certain defeat. That team would get turned over by the side that finished last season against sheff wed.
A couple of telling facts I discovered when reading the West Ham forum yesterday: - If West Ham avoid defeat against us that'll be the first time no team has doubled them since 1985/86, when they finished 3rd. - Their biggest home win has been 2-0. So something has to give? Call me crazy, as weakened team or not I have a good feeling about this one, we could be precisely the kind of side that West Ham struggle against as our tactics are counter to everything they do. And if Bournemouth, Norwich and Palace (and nearly Sunderland by all accounts) can get points up there why can't we?
I'm looking forward to this one - it will be very relaxing to be able to watch the game without any relegation worries.
Jakubiak not with the squad according to WD Sport. Oulare injured. And they say only 3 of the normal first teamers rested but won't name them.
I do love the fact that they have chosen to not name the players for fear of compromising plans... and making a point last weekend and now of saying so!
What made me laugh was one of those players, Holebas, then posted an instagram photo doing work with the physios and thereby confirming he was out :]]
