Preview | Watford v Swansea City
Swansea City will look to reach the fourth round of the Carabao Cup for just the eighth time in their history when they face Premier League Watford at Vicarage Road tonight (7.45pm).
Steve Cooper’s side have seen off Northampton and Cambridge United to get to this stage of the competition, and will be looking to continue the positivity of a fine start to the Championship season which sees them lie second in the early table.
Watford, meanwhile, will be desperate to get a morale-boosting win after enduring a difficult start to the new Premier League campaign.
They have picked up just two points from a possible 18, and were beaten 8-0 by champions Manchester City at the weekend.
The Hornets only win of the season to date came against Coventry in the last round of the Carabao Cup, but the Swans will be aware of the challenge of taking on opposition from the top tier of English football.
Team news
Ben Wilmot will not be able to feature for the Swans against his parent club under the terms of his loan move.
Winger Aldo Kalulu will miss out as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury but the Swans otherwise have a fully fit squad.
However, they will be without Jake Bidwell after an appeal to get the defender's red card at Bristol City rescinded was rejected. It means his three-match ban will commence this evening.
Pre-match views
Steve Cooper: “We cannot wait for the game.
“To go to a Premier League environment and see how we do, we have to thrive on that. That’s how you improve.
“We have a group of players who are capable and we hope to pick the right team.
“The players should enjoy it, that is the intention. We have to be excited about it.”
Quique Sanchez Flores: “We can think a lot about what happened in the Manchester City match, but we lost in many ways. We don't lose in one way.
“We conceded goals in many ways, so it's our work, as a coach to prepare the next match much better, but of course to try and think clean and don't think too much about what happened."
Remember the last time?
Swansea City launched a stunning late fightback to claim a 2-1 victory over Watford in Carlos Carvalhal’s first game in charge in December 2017.
The Swans were heading for defeat as they trailed 1-0 heading into the last five minutes.
Andre Carrillo had put Watford in front early on, but his header was cancelled in a dramatic finale.
Jordan Ayew levelled the scores on 86 minutes before Luciano Narsingh’s first goal for the club clinched a memorable win in the last minute of normal time.
Prime numbers
3 – The Swans have kept three clean sheets on their travels already this season, halfway towards matching last season’s total tally of six in all competitions.
16 – Swansea have lost just 16 of their 48 meetings with Watford dating back to 1920, winning 22 and drawing 10.
