Football League World
·12. Dezember 2024
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·12. Dezember 2024
Watford have now dropped points against the likes of Hull, QPR and Plymouth Argyle in recent weeks
Tom Cleverley has highlighted Watford’s issues against teams in the bottom six this season as an area they must improve after their 1-1 draw with Hull City.
Three of the Hornets’ last four games have seen them drop points to the likes of Hull, QPR and Plymouth Argyle, who are all in the relegation fight at the minute.
Draws against this trio of sides has seen them lose valuable points in the battle for a play-off place.
The gap to sixth place West Brom is just one point, meaning victory on Wednesday night would have moved them back into the top six in the table.
Cleverley has questioned why his side can’t quite pick up the same results against the top teams as they can against the bottom sides.
While he has claimed he’s overall quite happy with their points return thus far, he believes there is still work to be done to improve in this area.
“I think our points return as a whole against bottom-six teams this season has let us down a little bit,” said Cleverley, via the Watford Observer.
“I don’t think that’s an attitude thing.
“Certainly at Plymouth we deserved all three points, but it is something we need to address: why are we picking up four or five wins against teams in and around the top seven and none against the bottom six?
“We need to look at it and see if there are patterns there we can address as coaches, and move on.
“We move the focus to West Brom now with 31 points from 19 games, and that’s a good return: I’m not focusing on the last two.”
Watford are eighth in the Championship table ahead of their clash with Carlos Corberan's side on Sunday in a 2pm kick-off.
Watford need to be able to pick up these results if they are going to compete for promotion to the Premier League this season.
They cannot rely on always earning wins over the top sides, they need to take advantage in the games they’re expected to win.
The draw with Hull stands out in particular, as the Tigers had lost each of their last six games prior to Wednesday night’s clash.
These are the kinds of points dropped that will ultimately cost Watford if they do not fix this issue soon, and puts a lot more pressure on games like this Sunday’s against Albion.