Gaspar starts: The predicted Watford XI to face Cardiff on Wednesday night | OneFootball

Watford will be desperate to build on recent victories with another win against Cardiff City this evening, with the Hornets not likely to be short of confidence coming into this tie.

Managing to secure an emphatic 4-0 victory against Luton Town last month, there were worries that they weren’t going to be able to build on that with the Hertfordshire outfit’s inconsistency under Slaven Bilic being a real source of frustration for their supporters.

And they nearly dropped points against Wigan Athletic before Joao Pedro’s late winner – a victory that has allowed them to climb into seventh place with the play-off zone now firmly in their sights.

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They will be desperate to get into the top six before the World Cup interval comes along, though some Watford fans would settle for their current position considering some of the low points they have endured this term.

Cardiff, on the other hand, secured a much-needed victory over Rotherham United at the weekend and will be looking to utilise their home advantage to cause an upset in this clash.

Focusing on the visitors to the Welsh capital though, we take a look at the starting lineup Bilic may put out as he looks for a third consecutive victory.

In goal, it has to be Daniel Bachmann again following his clean sheet against the Latics, helping the Austrian to keep Maduka Okoye at bay for the time being in the goalkeeping department.

There’s one change in the backline with Mario Gaspar coming in for the suspended Hamza Choudhury, allowing Dan Gosling to return to his more natural midfield position following a spell on the right-hand side.

Hassane Kamara, Francisco Sierralta and William Troost-Ekong remain in the backline though – with the former likely to be a real asset for the Hornets down the left-hand side if he gets the opportunity to break forward regularly.

As previously mentioned, Gosling has to come in for Choudhury, with Edo Kayembe remaining in the middle of the park. It remains to be seen how well the Gosling and Kayembe partnership can blossom – but they may only get this game to shine with Choudhury only serving a one-match suspension.

Further forward, Ismaila Sarr has to start again as a real difference-maker along with Ken Sema who operates on the other side. The latter will be hoping to get in and amongst the goals again following his strike against Stoke City during the early stages of last month.

In the ten position, it has to be Joao Pedro once more following his goal at the DW Stadium and Vakoun Bayo retains his spot up top with Keinan Davis not guaranteed to be fully fit for this clash.