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Watford are venturing into the unknown this season, with a new manager and plenty of changes already to the squad at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets sacked Tom Cleverley in May, with Paulo Pezzolano replacing him in Hertfordshire, a deal that supporters were not keen on.
Watford are in desperate need of bringing in new stars after a mid-table finish in 2024/25, and with Imran Louza likely to depart, their new head coach does have his work cut out.
A place in the play-offs will be the target, although this is perhaps a little bit unlikely currently. It is now three years since the club were relegated from the Premier League and EFL Analysis has taken a look at the Hornets’ last top flight campaign.
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Watford were relegated without much of a fight in their last Premier League season
After finishing second in the Championship in 2020/21, Watford returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking and they started well as they beat Aston Villa 3-2 on the opening day of the season.
A 3-1 win over Norwich City in gameweek five did offer some promise to supporters and by the end of November the Hornets had four wins on the board. But things started to unravel following a fantastic 4-1 victory Manchester United.
They went 11 games without a win, picking up just two points in that time as Claudio Ranieri struggled to make an impact on the team and he was eventually sacked at the end of January – having only taken charge in October 2021 from Xisco Munoz.
Two more wins followed from February until the end of the seasonwith a 0-0 draw against Everton being the only result that stopped Watford from suffering nine straight defeats. They eventually finished 19th in the Premier League in a disastrous season that started off with so much promise.
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Paulo Pezzolano has a huge challenge on his hands
The Hornets have benefited from Joao Pedro’s move from Brighton to Chelsea, and spending this money on experienced, quality players is crucial if they want to move up the table in 2025/26.
The Premier League dream is still a few years away at Vicarage Road and with Watford’s rich history for changing managers, Pezzolano may not have the highest of hopes that he will be sticking around for a while.
Nevertheless, anything can happen in the Championship and with a little bit of luck, the Hertfordshire club may just make a surprise push for the top six.