This afternoon, Sheffield Wednesday will visit Watford’s Vicarage Road for the first time in 2.5 years in an effort to secure their first victory of the season in Danny Röhl’s debut for the Owls.
When they last visited Watford, Xisco Munoz was in charge of the Hornets, and they suffered a 1-0 loss. Since then, the Spaniard has come and gone from the Wednesday dugout, and Röhl was named as his replacement last week.
All eyes on the future for the Owls are now focused on the 34-year-old, who, despite having a superb résumé, was mostly unknown until his Wednesday appointment. but not Valerian Ismael, the manager of Watford.
Röhl, a former player at Bayern Munich and current manager of Barnsley, served as Hansi Flick’s assistant for two years. Ismael spent six years playing in Germany and has donned the jerseys of Werder Bremen and Hannover 96, so it should come as no surprise that he is familiar with the young German player’s career.
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With an admittedly smaller data sample in terms of minutes played, Championship sides have had more success against Watford with a back three or back five, scoring 1.75 per 90 to the Hornets’ 1.5 and achieving an xG of 1.75 to their 1.01.
A back three tends to open their matches up more, it seems.
With that in mind – and we’re aware we’re clutching at straws here – we’ve plumped for a back three with wing-backs.
Here’s how Danny Rohl’s Wednesday could line up at Vicarage Road this afternoon.
Championship teams have had more success against Watford with a back three or back five, scoring 1.75 per 90 to the Hornets’ 1.5 and achieving an xG of 1.75 to their 1.01 despite an admittedly smaller data sample in terms of minutes played.
It seems that teams with a back three open up their games more.
In light of this, and realizing that we are grasping at straws, we have chosen a back three with wing-backs.
Here is a possible lineup for Danny Rohl’s Wednesday this afternoon at Vicarage Road.
