Southampton are unbeaten in their last five Premier League matches against Watford (W3 D2), since losing their first PL encounter, 2-3 at Vicarage Road in December 1999.
The Hornets haven’t beaten Southampton in any of their last seven league encounters (D3 L4), since winning 3-0 at St. Mary’s in a Championship fixture in October 2008.
Watford have used 21 different players in their opening three Premier League games of 2017-18, more than any other team in the competition.
The Hornets have kept a clean sheet in their last two Premier League games and have restricted their opponents to just four shots on target overall in this period – the last time they kept three clean sheets in a row in the competition was October 2016.
This will be the fifth consecutive league meeting at St. Mary’s between these sides in which a different manager has been in each dugout – Aidy Boothroyd and Jan Poortvliet in October 2008, Sean Dyche and Nigel Adkins in October 2011, Quique Flores and Ronald Koeman in January 2016, Walter Mazzarri and Claude Puel in August 2016 and Marco Silva and Mauricio Pellegrino this season.
Marco Silva will be looking to win back to back league away games as a manager for the first time since April 2016, whilst boss of Greek side Olympiakos.
In their 0-0 draw with Brighton on MD3, Heurelho Gomes kept his 50th Premier League clean sheet; the first South American goalkeeper to reach this landmark.
Nathan Redmond has had a hand in five goals in his last three Premier League games against Watford, scoring four goals and assisting one.
Saints face Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday 15th October (4pm). Ticket information is as follows:
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Virgil van Dijk has returned to training with Southampton after a summer that saw him attempt to force an exit from the club.
Van Dijk, 26, had been training by himself after handing in a transfer request to Southampton last month.
The Netherlands international was linked with an exit from St Mary’s, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all being credited with an interest in him, but a move failed to materialise.
Southampton had insisted that their captain was not for sale and Liverpool were forced into an apology and public withdrawal of interest after an allegation of “tapping up” was made to the Premier League.
However, Van Dijk, who has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury in January, looks to have put his problems with Southampton to one side after returning to training with the rest of the first-team squad this week.
The defender is reportedly available for selection for Southampton’s Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday, though the Daily Telegraph claims he is still several weeks away from being match fit.
Southampton currently sit eighth in the Premier League, having picked up five points from three games in Van Dijk’s absence.
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Finally, the international break is over and we can get back to domestic football - and that means a return for the Fantasy Premier League.
We might be just a few weeks into the new Premier League season but managers already have cause to make transfers.
Whether it be through injuries, suspensions, your stars player aren’t starting, or a new star player you want has come into the Premier League, you will need to make some alterations.
If this is the case, don’t fear, we’re here to help with our top tips for gameweek four.
Click the right arrow above to see our Fantasy Premier League tips…
Max Rushden and Head of Sky Data, Harry Carr, preview this week’s Stat Attack podcast with some interesting findings about Nathan Ake, Olivier Giroud and Mohamed Salah.