Ahead of Leicester’s trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday, we spoke with Tom Bodell on behalf of Vital Watford for his thoughts on this match:
1) You came very close to winning promotion last year. Are you aiming as high in 2013/14?
Yes, absolutely. Gino Pozzo, who is running the club for his father Giampaolo, stated a little way into last season that the aim for this season would be the win promotion. We would have been ahead of schedule if we`d have managed to reach the Premier League last season so the aim is very much to go one step further this season.
Whilst we have lost some important players from last season`s success, namely: Jonathan Hogg, Nathaniel Chalobah and Matej Vydra, we have also brought some excellent players in and signed a lot of last season`s success stories on a permanent basis.
At the moment, it`s just taking some time to properly click.
2) Our sides met four times last year – the last of which ended in the most dramatic fashion. Do you think Leicester will be out to exact revenge after ‘that’ thirty seconds of football last May?
I`d certainly hope you are!
From the outside looking in, it looks to me like Leicester have been able to get over their dose of end-of-season heartbreak a lot better than we have and have therefore started the season a lot better than us.
I`m pleased that Nigel Pearson is still in charge because he always strikes me as a very honest, very intelligent manager who knows what he is doing at this level and every time you hit the slightest dip, there seems to be talk of him being under pressure, which is ridiculous, because I firmly believe he will get you up sooner or later.
I certainly think that had you been facing Palace at Wembley in May, you would have dispatched with them and be making a much better fist of top-flight football than they are at the moment!
3) You’re currently averaging more than two goals a game at home this season. Who has been in good form for the Hornets so far this season, and are their any new additions Leicester fans should look out for?
Six of those goals have come from Troy Deeney and five have come from Lewis McGugan, yet to my mind, neither man has shown the kind of form expected of them so far this season – something which splits opinion amongst Watford fans.
The real stars of the show in recent weeks have been homegrown midfielder Sean Murray and impish second forward Fernando Forestieri.
Both men ‘scored` in the draw at Brighton on Monday night, though as you will already be aware, only Murray`s effort counted after Forestieri`s ‘goal` was inexplicably not awarded despite clearly being over the line.
After both impressing at Albion and against Derby last weekend, I fully expect both to start once more on Saturday.
A mention too for Gabriele Angella at the back, who has been the pick of the new signings so far for me. His distribution is a little ropey, but he is strong, good in the air and just has that little bit of class that not many centre-halves at this level possess.
4) What can away fans expect from their trip to Vicarage Road?
I`ll get the obvious one out of the way first: we only have three stands now. Though technically, as the East Stand has been condemned for about five years, it`s hardly news that we`ve only got three stands, the difference being that it is finally being demolished and replaced.
Hopefully there will be a good atmosphere after the drama of last season and especially Anthony Knockaert`s contribution to proceedings – we can be a little quiet, but a fan group called the 1881 are trying their hardest to change that.
5) Where do you see Leicester finishing this season, and do you think Nigel Pearson is the man to lead us to the Premier League?
As I`ve already eulogised about Mr Pearson earlier, but yes, I do think he will take you to the top-flight this season or next.
6) If you could sign one of our players, who would it be?
Chris Wood. We have the out-of-sorts Deeney as our only big, strong, traditional No.9 and when he isn`t available or playing well there isn`t somebody in the squad who can fill that role effectively. I fancy that Wood would be a good addition in that respect.
7) Who do you think is our main threat?
David Nugent is a real goal poacher and always scores against us, though I heard a Leicester fan recently suggest that the number of penalties he scores rather distorts his actual goal tally.
Nevertheless, he`s a good player, as is Knockaert, when he`s not diving or crying!
8) Where do you think our main weakness lies?
I don`t think it`s something that will hurt us, but it could be problematic over the course of the season, that is that you`re squad is pretty thin. There`s some real quality in there, but you haven`t got a great deal of depth.
That said, I noticed a player point out recently that perhaps the start you`d had to this season had been down to keeping a settled squad and not making many – one is it? – permanent additions since the end of last season.
9) And finally – what’s your scoreline prediction for the game?
2-2
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