Watford v Norwich preview: Canaries look to contain Odion Ighalo

Watford will be aiming to avenge two defeats to Norwich in the Championship last season when the sides meet at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

The Canaries won both encounters 3-0 in the 2014/15 campaign, with Lewis Grabban scoring three of the six goals.

However, Watford have enjoyed a better start to life in the Premier League and moved up to 11th in the table after their 3-2 win at Aston Villa last weekend.

In Odion Igahlo they have one of the form strikers in the league while Troy Deeney has also hit his stride lately with four goals in his last five matches.

Grabban was on the scoresheet for Norwich last weekend as they came from behind to draw with Arsenal at Carrow Road.

However, they have struggled away from home this season, failing to win any of their six last away matches and conceding 16 goals.

Team news

Goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes will be given the chance to prove his fitness for Watford after sustaining a neck injury during last weekend's win over Aston Villa.

Quique Sanchez Flores is hopeful his No 1 will be fit to face the Canaries but Sebastian Prodl (calf) and Joel Ekstrand (knee) are both still unavailable.

Norwich expect to have midfielder Alex Tettey available after a groin problem and manager Alex Neil reported no fresh injury worries following last weekend's draw with Arsenal.

Captain Russell Martin could come back into contention having been an unused substitute against the Gunners, but winger Matt Jarvis - on loan from West Ham - remains sidelined with a knee injury.

Opta stats

Nine of the last 10 league meetings between Watford and Norwich at Vicarage Road have seen both teams score.

Norwich have scored in 22 successive league meetings with Watford.

Watford have already matched their number of wins in their last Premier League campaign in 2006/07 (5) and are one away from matching their tally in 1999/00 (6).

Deeney and Ighalo have combined to create 23 goal-scoring chances for each other in the Premier League this season, more than any other two players.

A league-high 81 per cent of the goals that Watford have conceded in the league this season have come after half-time (13 out of 16).

Grabban has not ended on the losing side in any of the last 24 games that he's scored in (W19 D5) - the last time he lost a game he scored in was back in October 2013.

Merson's predictions

This is a big game for both sides. In my opinion it's the biggest game of the weekend.

It's a cup final for the two teams and if Watford win they could virtually be safe. I've been very impressed with Quique Sanchez Flores' side and I think they'll win it 2-1.

Both sides had good results last week but I just think Watford will be too strong at home.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (15/2 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Watford are Sky Bet's 11/10 favourites ahead of the visit of Norwich with the away win and draw trading at the same price of 12/5. The Hornets were one of the pre-season fancies to be relegated but are now 11/1 shots after securing a mid-table berth.

Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney are both 13/8 to score anytime while the pair to score is a 13/2 shot. Lewis Grabban scored against Arsenal last week and is 5/2 to net anytime for the visitors.

Check out the tips from pundits Jamie Redknapp, Charlie Nicholas, Matt Le Tissier and Phil Thompson here.