Watford are bracing themselves for a potentially season-shaping week as they prepare to host the Championship’s bottom two, Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday, at Vicarage Road.
Norwich arrive first for Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off and have enjoyed recent success in WD18, winning on their last two visits, including a 2-1 Carabao Cup first-round victory on the opening week of the campaign. Since then, however, the Canaries’ season has unravelled.
Just nine points from their first 15 league matches led to the dismissal of head coach Liam Manning, with Philippe Clement brought in as his replacement. Clement did oversee a long-awaited upturn last week as Norwich beat QPR 3-1 for their first win since August, but their broader form remains a concern.
That context makes the fixture an opportunity for Javi Gracia’s side. Norwich have collected only one point from their last five away games, while Watford, despite showing flashes of real promise, have managed just one win in their previous five outings.
Back-to-back 1-1 home draws against Bristol City and Preston have been especially exasperating, with the Hornets feeling they should have taken maximum points from both. Breaking down opponents who are content to sit deep at Vicarage Road is therefore a key focus heading into this week.
That challenge may be even greater on Tuesday night when Sheffield Wednesday visit. While the Owls appear to be edging closer to a takeover that could secure their future, their 2025/26 season has fallen apart.
A further six-point deduction this week has taken their total penalty to 18, leaving them stranded on -10 points and 27 adrift of safety. Even without the sanctions, their tally of eight points would still place them bottom, five behind Norwich. Their sole win came away at Portsmouth on September 20, and since then they have taken four draws and suffered eight defeats from 12 matches ahead of Saturday’s trip to Blackburn.
With that in mind, the onus will be firmly on Watford to deliver, and realistically anything less than a six-point haul would be a disappointment.
Gracia urged his players to “learn quickly” after the defeat to Birmingham, a remark that reflected the inexperience of a youthful squad that is clearly talented but not yet consistently effective.
That observation underlines the central dilemma of Watford’s season. The squad is packed with young players of obvious potential, many of whom could go on to compete at a higher level. Othmane Maamma is the latest to make an impact and will be crucial over the coming days.
At the same time, the club have set their sights on a promotion push, an aim that depends on delivering results with regularity. Whether nurturing and developing assets while also winning immediately is sustainable remains the key question — and the Hornets will need to find another level soon if they are to answer it positively.
Gracia has earned far more backing from the dressing room than his predecessor Paulo Pezzolano and was recently praised by chairman Scott Duxbury, but he will not be spared scrutiny if performances and results fail to improve.
Former captain Troy Deeney has spoken of the need for a “relentless” mentality to mount a promotion challenge, while Maamma himself has acknowledged that the team is missing the “small details” required to turn performances into victories.
Two December fixtures will not define the entire campaign, but patience could begin to fray if the tone does not shift quickly. Another disappointing week may see optimism drain away — and by this time next week, a far clearer picture should emerge of what 2025/26 truly holds for Watford.