Watford were excellent in the Championship last season, finishing at the 2nd spot and claiming an automatic promotion to the Premier League just 1 year after their relegation. They will now start the new season with a home match against Aston Villa. Aston Villa had an OK season but they are one of the teams that changed a lot in their roster and will be aiming higher this season.
Watford are coming off a very good season in the Championship, finishing at the 2nd spot with a 27-9-10 record, scoring 63 goals and conceding just 30 in the process, which was the best defense in the league. They had the best home record in the Championship (19-2-2), also featuring the best home offense with 44 goals and the best home defense with just 12 conceded. They won each of their last 9 home matches and kept 8 clean sheets in the process. Ismaila Sarr is the player to watch, as the Senegalese forward led the scoring for Watford last season with 13 goals and 4 assists.
Aston Villa are getting read for the post-Grealish era, as the key man was sold to Manchester City. However, Aston Villa spent most of that money to reinforce their squad, especially up front, bringing in Danny Ings from Southampton, Leon Bailey from Leverkusen and Emiliani Buendia from Norwich, who had a tremendous season in the Championship. Last season Villa finished at the 11th spot of the Premier League with 55 points (16-15-7), scoring 55 and conceding 46 goals. They were extremely good in their away matches, especially at the start of the season, but they eventually finished with the 9th best away record (9-7-3).
