The Blues will look to bounce back from their defeat to Leicester when they take to the field at Vicarage Road on Boxing Day
Chelsea will attempt to put their loss to Leicester behind them when they face Watford at Vicarage Road on Wednesday.
Maurizio Sarri’s side suffered their first home defeat of the season last week when they were beaten 1-0 by the Foxes and the Italian is eager to return to winning ways.
Watford, meanwhile, are flying high this season and will pose a serious threat to the Blues, particularly on their own patch.
In contrast to their visitors, the Hornets come into the game on the back of a victory, having triumphed 2-0 over West Ham in their last outing.
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) .
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky 1 and Sky Sports Main Event. It can also be streamed live online using Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Premier League / Sky 1 / Sky Sports Main Event | Sky Go |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Watford squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Gomes, Dahlberg, Foster |
| Defenders | Janmaat, Britos, Kaboul, Prodl, Mariappa, Masina, Cathcart, Femenia, Zeegelaar, Navarro, Wilmot, Holebas, Kabasele |
| Midfielders | Cleverley, Sema, Chalobah, Doucoure, Hughes, Quina, Capoue, Pereyra |
| Forwards | Deulofeu, Deeney, Success, Penaranda, Gray, Okaka |
Watford are expected to be without Andre Gray, while Will Hughes and Sebastian Prodl are also unlikely to feature. The Hornets have no suspensions to worry about, but they may opt to rotate the squad.
Potential Watford starting XI: Foster; Holebas, Cathcart, Kabasele, Femenia; Doucoure, Capoue, Sema, Pereyra, Deulofeu; Deeney.
| Position | Chelsea squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Kepa, Caballero, Green, Bulka |
| Defenders | Rudiger, Alonso, Zappacosta, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Emerson, Ampadu |
| Midfielders | Moses, Fabregas, Jorginho, Drinkwater, Kante, Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, McEachran |
| Forwards | Hazard, Pedro, Giroud, Morata, Willian, Hudson-Odoi |
Andreas Christensen is a major concern for Sarri due to a hamstring injury, but Alvaro Morata is available again. The Italian coach has a preferred XI, but may switch things up in midfield and attack to preserve the legs of his players through the festive period.
Potential Chelsea starting XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso; Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante; Pedro, Willian, Hazard.
Chelsea are strong favourites to win the match, with bet365 giving odds of 13/20 on the Blues to triumph. Watford’s chances of victory are rated 17/4 and a draw is available at 11/4.
Match Preview
Chelsea’s defeat to Leicester at the weekend was a serious set-back in their bid for the Premier League title and leaves them in a position where they now have a fight on their hands to secure a top four finish, with Arsenal breathing down their neck heading into the new year.
Sarri was furious with the loss – their third of the season – but indicated the silver lining was that his players have little time to dwell on the nature of their shortcomings in the game.
“After the goal the reaction was, for me, a strange reaction, not in the right direction, not as a team but as 11 different players and so it was very strange,” said the Chelsea boss.
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“It’s important to play again in four days, maybe positive, maybe negative, it depends on our reaction after the match.
“In the match we had a bad reaction, now it depends on the reaction in the next three days, I think it’s important to play immediately.”
With another away game against London rivals Crystal Palace to come four days after the meeting with the Hornets, the Italian will be desperate for his team to make their way into 2019 on a high.
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