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Football

Watford 0-0 Preston: Goalless draw, Watford continue undefeated streak

Watford extended their undefeated streak to five games in the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship season with a merited goalless draw against Preston North End.

Both teams had opportunities throughout the 90 minutes at Deepdale, with Vakoun Bayo and Edo Kayembe coming close to scoring their first goals for Watford in the first half, and Daniel Bachmann defending well. Daniel was the busier of the two goalkeepers, but the post rescued the day when a long attempt by Ryan Ledson ricocheted off its surface.

watford drawThe Lancashire team has now tied four of their first five league games 0-0, while their opponents have drawn all three of their away games. Preston boss Rob Lowe chose an unchanged team from the one that drew 0-0 with Rotherham in midweek.

Head coach Edwards made two changes to the team that had drawn 1-1 at Birmingham the week before. Manaj replaced the injured Joo Pedro to make his first start for the Hornets, and Mario Gaspar was replaced by Hassane Kamara, who had been suspended. Rey Manaj was one of the Hornets’ greatest threats in the second half, but Ryan Lowe’s side held strong to keep the visitors out and retain their own outstanding record of not conceding yet this season intact.

Watford, who were wearing their blue away uniform for the first time this season, were forced to defend early on, with goalkeeper Bachmann making an acrobatic save to deny a fizzing Alan Browne attempt in the fourth minute. Bayo initiated the visitors’ reaction with a deflected shot that resulted in a corner kick three minutes later, and soon before the 10-minute mark, Kamara beat Robbie Brady down the right flank before winning yet another corner kick that came to naught. As the Golden Boys grew into the first half, Bayo was at the heart of the next assault, with home goalkeeper Freddie Woodman doing well to prevent the Ivorian’s one-on-one shot after he’d benefitted from a wayward pass.

Preston’s Troy Parrott and Daniel Johnson both tried their luck from distance as the home side reminded them of their threat, and Bachmann was once again alert to palm the ball away from danger following a brawl in the box.

The second half began similarly to the first, with Browne being denied by Bachmann. On the hour mark, though, Manaj was put through one-on-one with Woodman, giving the visitors their finest opportunity of the game. His finish was sloppy, as he shot high into the stand with his left foot, much to the chagrin of the travelling fans behind the goal. Watford were beginning to find ways to break down a staunch North End defence seeking to maintain a sixth consecutive league clean sheet, but wayward finishing was proving to be their undoing. After 71 minutes, Manaj again missed with a volley, and Bayo fired into the side netting from an angle. Despite four minutes of additional time, neither team could produce any more clear-cut chances, and both had to settle for a point.

Watford manager Rob Edwards remarked: “It was a hard-earned point that could have been three. Preston have shown they are very difficult to score against, but the thing is, maybe we could have taken one of our three or four big chances that we did have. 

I think they’re good players and we would expect them, on another day, to put those away. And they know that as well, because they’re good players and we’ve got to demand high standards.

When you get those sorts of chances, you need to punish teams. Our goalkeeper has made some good saves as well, so if you don’t win it, make sure you don’t lose.”

Preston boss Ryan Lowe stated: “Watford are all big, strong lads – you don’t play in the Premier League for nothing. I know they’ve come down, but I thought we handled ourselves fantastically well.

“There was a few moments which were a little bit scary in terms of their quality, but more importantly for us to keep playing the way we are on a weekly basis is pleasing.

“The only frustration is we haven’t scored to give our fans something to sing about – they’ve been great. We’ve had seven points out of five league games, we would have loved nine or 10, 11 or 12.

“We’re just lacking that little bit of quality in front of goal and, once we get that, whether it ricochets off a body or a head, whatever way it comes, I’m sure we’ll move on up.”

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