A high-flying Hammers outfit sitting pretty in third place will travel to Vicarage Road on Saturday night to face a Watford side finally finding their feet.
Slaven Bilic’s men claimed their fourth massive scalp last weekend against Chelsea – already having beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City this season – and they will believe that this game represents a terrific chance to cement their place inside the top four.
This will be a very different task for West Ham though, with Quique Sanchez Flores’ men unlikely to approach the game in a similar fashion to some of those top sides.
With Watford on the back of a 2-0 win at Stoke, managed in a very different way to the manner in which the Hammers have beaten the big names, this will be an intriguing game between two confident sides.
Key battle – Dmitri Payet vs Etienne Capoue
Dmitri Payet has been one of the signings of the summer so far, inspiring his side to the top end of the division. The Frenchman was tipped to star in the Premier League in 2015-16 and is yet to disappoint.
This weekend he will come up against compatriot Etienne Capoue, who has justified the sum of money lumped on him in the just the same manner. While not taking as many headlines, Capoue has been absolutely vital in Watford’s encouraging start to the season and the better of these two in the midfield battle could win their side the game.
Capoue is a very capable player in an offensive sense, but the Flores way seems to be to sort out all of the opposition’s strengths before worrying about going forward. With his athleticism and power, the 27-year-old is likely to be the man asked to restrain from heading forward too much and instead to focus on keeping Payet quiet.
Team news
Watford welcome Jose Manual Jurado back to fitness after the Spaniard joined in training this week, though there are doubts over whether he will be ready for a full game. Valon Behrami is fit to start, but may miss out to impressive deputy Ben Watson, while Joel Ekstrand and Tommie Hoban are long-term absentees.
The biggest fitness bonus to West Ham will be to see striker Andy Carroll back playing and on the score-sheet last Saturday. He may start, though the game may come too soon for Winston Reid and Joey O’Brien.
Head-to-head
Both side’s fortunes are mixed when they have featured against each other in the Premier League, with West Ham slightly the better of the two, with two wins – both in the 1999-2000 season.
The Hornets managed a draw and an away win in 2006-2007, but the Hammers responded with a win and a draw the last time both sides were in the same division during 2011-12.
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Previous meeting
West Ham were held to a draw by Watford at Upton Park last time the two sides met in competition.
Youngster Sean Murray gave the Hornets the lead early in the second=half, part of a wonderful run of form for the Irishman, before the Hammers, under Sam Allardyce, equalised late on through Ricardo Vaz Te.
Watford went on to record a very respectable 11th-placed finish in the last season before the club was transformed by new ownership, while it was a historic campaign for West Ham who were promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Prediction
West Ham will be confident heading to Hertfordshire, but will also know that this is a different encounter to those that they have stolen all the headlines by winning this season.
Watford will be confident and we see them taking a point from an evenly-matched game at Vicarage Road.
Watford 1 West Ham 1
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