PREVIEW | Watford vs Hull City - team news, lineups, predictions | OneFootball

Watford welcome Hull City to Vicarage Road this Saturday for round seven of the Championship.

The Hornets will be looking to return to winning ways after suffering back-to-back defeats in recent league outings.

Currently 21st in the table, just above Derby County on goal difference and one point ahead of Sheffield Wednesday, Watford will be desperate to get a home victory.

Their visitors, meanwhile, are looking to make it two wins in a row after an impressive 3-1 victory over Southampton last Saturday.

The Fan Zone

James Batchelor (TheWatfordWay): Watford return to EFL Championship action this weekend as they host Hull City at Vicarage Road. With pressure mounting, Paulo Pezzolano could face the sack if the Hornets fail to secure a much-needed win.

The Uruguayan has managed just one victory in his last seven matches in all competitions, with Watford recording some of the lowest attacking metrics in the league. It makes for grim reading. Gino Pozzo is known for having an itchy trigger finger, and in my opinion, if Pezzolano fails to win on Saturday, he'll be shown the door.

Barring Giorgi Giorgi Chakvetadze, Watford have a near fully fit squad. There are no excuses now.

Prediction: 1-1

Joe Collins (To Hull and Back Podcast): Starting with the negative, Mohamed Belloumi is out again. A muscle injury of the kind that is common after such a long time out on the sidelines has struck our Algerian wing wizard's right hamstring. Fortunately, it isn't knee related and these things happen on a regular basis. He'll be out for about 6 weeks, so will return around the November international break - ready to be tightly wrapped in cotton wool and bubble-wrap for the festive period.

In other ACL-related news, Liam Millar will be in the matchday squad for the first time since 23rd October 2024 this weekend. Sergej Jakirovi? said after Southampton that Millar would play for our Under-21s on Tuesday, and concern spread among some fans when the lineup was posted without Millar's name included. Fortunately, it wasn't what some had dreaded.

Brandon Williams has returned in time for the trip to Vicarage Road following a stint out due to concussion protocol - but Semi Ajayi and Matt Crooks are not yet fit enough to play again following hamstring and ankle injuries respectively. It is hoped they will feature at some stage in this upcoming three-game week.

Watford haven't had a great start to the season, but their squad has enough talent in it to cause teams problems. Rocco Vata, Nestory Irankunda, Giorgi Chakvetadze and Caleb Wiley are the standouts for me - although I believe there are doubts about Chakvetadze's availability this weekend (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Our record down there is awful, additionally. We haven't tasted victory at Vicarage Road since December 2012, with Robbie Brady and David Meyler scoring for us that day in a 2-1 win.

Given our poor record, I'd take a point. But it is a game we are certainly capable of winning, and I think we will.

Prediction: 2-3

Predicted lineups

Watford: Nathan Baxter, James Abankwah, Formose Mendy, Kévin Keben, Caleb Wiley, Nampalys Mendy, Imran Louza, Hector Kyprianou, Kwadwo Baah, Luca Kjerrumgaard, Nestory Irankunda

Hull City: Ivor Pandur, Lewie Coyle, Charlie Hughes, John Egan, Ryan Giles, John Lundstram, Amir Hadziahmetovic, Joe Gelhardt, Darko Gyabi, Kyle Joseph, Oliver McBurnie

Unavailable

Watford

Hull City

Last starting XIs

Watford ( vs Millwall 2025-09-22): Egil Selvik, Max Alleyne, Kévin Keben, Mattie Pollock, Formose Mendy, Imran Louza, Marc Bola, Nampalys Mendy, Hector Kyprianou, Vivaldo Semedo, Nestory Irankunda

Hull City ( vs Southampton 2025-09-20): Ivor Pandur, Lewie Coyle, John Egan, Charlie Hughes, Ryan Giles, Amir Hadziahmetovic, John Lundstram, Mohamed Belloumi, Joe Gelhardt, Kyle Joseph, Oliver McBurnie