The Sky Blues host Watford at St Andrew’s this Saturday lunchtime live on Sky Sports. Here’s everything you need to know about our opponents.

Fact file

Name – Watford

Founded – 1881

Stadium – Vicarage Road (first opened 1922)

Capacity – 22,220

Nickname – The Hornets

Address – Vicarage Road, Watford, WD18 0ER

Pitch Size – 115 x 74 yards

The Opposition

Watford are currently fifth in the table, just four points away from the automatic promotion places as they look to return to the top-flight at the first attempt.

The Hornets are managed by Xisco Munoz and their top scorer is Joao Pedro who has scored six goals so far this season.

The Hertfordshire club were beaten at home by QPR last time out, which ended a run of four league games without defeat.

Manager

Xisco Munoz was appointed as Watford head coach in December last year, replacing Vladimir Ivic in the Vicarage Road hotseat.

Munoz played for the likes of Valencia, Real Betis and Dinamo Tbilisi as a player, winning the La Liga title and UEFA Cup with the former.

Following his retirement, Munoz spent time on the coaching staff at Gimnastic and Pobla Mafumet in his native Spain before taking up the manager role at former club Dinamo Tbilisi in August of last year.

The 40-year-old led Dinamo to the Georgian league title in December before then being appointed as Watford manager later that same month and secured a home win against league leaders Norwich City in his first match in charge.

With Watford, Munoz has managed eight matches recording four wins, one draw and three defeats.

Last Six Games

Lost – Watford 1-2 QPR (Sky Bet Championship)

Drew – Millwall 0-0 Watford (Sky Bet Championship)

Won – Stoke 1-2 Watford (Sky Bet Championship)

Won – Watford 1-0 Barnsley (Sky Bet Championship)

Won – Watford 2-0 Huddersfield (Sky Bet Championship)

Lost – Man Utd 1-0 Watford (Emirates FA Cup)

Last Time We Met

The two sides met in the Sky Bet Championship earlier this season with City beaten in the final few minutes after playing out a five-goal thriller at Vicarage Road.

Watford took the lead early in the second-half when Ismaila Sarr’s low cross was fortuitously turned into the net by Andre Gray.

However, that goal sparked the Sky Blues into life when Gus Hamer scored an extraordinary header from 25-yards out, looping his effort over Hornets goalkeeper Ben Foster.

City turned the game on its head just a minute later when Tyler Walker produced a fine outside of the boot finish into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area.

The hosts hit back when William Troost-Ekong headed home from a corner from the right, before Sarr’s late penalty, seven minutes from time, saw City fall to defeat in Hertfordshire.

Head-to-Head Record

Sky Blues Wins – 36

Draws – 16

Watford Wins – 42

Club Connections

Marvin Sordell

Former striker Marvin Sordell came through Watford’s academy before playing for the Sky Blues later in his career.

Sordell spent time on loan at Wealdstone and Tranmere Rovers before breaking into the Watford first-team, scoring his first Championship goal for the club against the Sky Blues in May 2010.

He would go on to make 83 appearances for the Hornets, scoring 27 goals, before joining then Premier League side Bolton Wanderers in January 2012 and went on to play for Great Britain at that summer’s Olympic Games in London.

After a short spell with the Trotters and a season on loan at Charlton Athletic, Sordell signed for Burnley in July 2014 but failed to score a league goal for the Clarets.

He joined Colchester United in September 2015 and spent one season with the U’s before signing for the Sky Blues in July 2016.

During his time with City, Sordell scored seven goals in 26 appearances before being sold to Burton Albion the following January as part of the deal that took Stuart Beavon and Callum Reilly to the Sky Blues.

The 29-year-old spent the next two and a half seasons with the Brewers, which included a brief loan spell with Northampton Town, before hanging up his boots in July 2019 citing mental health reasons.

Aidy Boothroyd

A former manager of both clubs, Aidy Boothroyd guided Watford into the Premier League before later taking charge of the Sky Blues.

Boothroyd began his managerial career with the Hornets in March 2005 aged just 34-years-old and kept the club in the second-tier before guiding them to an unlikely promotion the following season, beating Leeds United 3-0 in the Championship play-off final.

However, he would suffer relegation from the Premier League after just a single season in the top-flight, before once again guiding his team into the play-offs the following campaign, this time suffering a semi-final defeat to Hull City, and departed the club in November 2008 after a poor start to the season.

He returned to management with Colchester United in September 2009 and spent just one season with the U’s, narrowly missing out on the play-off places before being appointed as Sky Blues manager in May 2010.

The 49-year-old replaced Chris Coleman in the Ricoh Arena hotseat and took City into the Championship play-off spots in December, but a run of one win in 16 league games eventually led to his dismissal in March 2011.

Boothroyd was back in work later that same year and took charge of Northampton Town in November securing the club’s Football League status.

The following season, Boothroyd led the club to the League Two play-off final where they were beaten 3-0 by Bradford City at Wembley and was sacked in December 2013 with the club bottom of League Two.

Currently, Boothroyd is in charge of England under-21’s, having previously managed both the under-19’s and under-20’s, and helped his country win the Toulon Tournament in 2018.

Match Officials

Graham Scott will be the man in the middle on Saturday lunchtime, taking charge of his 15^th game of the 2020/21 season.

He last refereed the Sky Blues back in August 2014 when City secured a 1-0 win against Sheffield United at Sixfields Stadium in League One.

This will be Scott’s 13^th season as a Football League referee and he has officiated the Sky Blues on five previous occasions, with City winning three, drawing one and losing one of those matches.

So far, Scott has awarded 33 yellow cards and four red cards across 14 matches in the Premier League, Championship, Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

He will be assisted by Peter Kirkup and James Mainwaring with Michael Salisbury acting as fourth official.