Sheffield Wednesday must take advantage of alarming Watford trend on Saturday | OneFootball

Watford have lost their last five away league games ahead of their trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

It has been a much-improved few weeks for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.

Wednesday endured a difficult start to the season as they lost three of their first four league games, and many were fearing that another relegation battle could be on the cards.

However, the Owls have lost just two of their last eight Championship games, and they produced another impressive away comeback in the 2-1 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Friday night.

It was a poor first-half performance from Wednesday, and Connor Ogilvie gave Pompey the lead just before the break, but the visitors turned the game around in the second half, with Josh Windass' close-range finish and Michael Smith's stunning long-range strike sealing a deserved three points.

While the Owls exited the EFL Cup on Tuesday night as they were beaten on penalties by Brentford after a 1-1 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium, the fact that they managed to take a strong Premier League team all the way to spot-kicks, despite fielding a much-changed side, will no doubt give them significant confidence.

Rohl's men currently sit 13th in the table, just four points from the play-off places, and they are back in league action when they host Watford at Hillsborough on Saturday.

Damning Watford statistic should give Sheffield Wednesday hope

Despite many tipping them to struggle, it has been an excellent start to the season for Watford, and they currently sit seventh in the table, level on points with sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers.

The Hornets are defying expectations in what is head coach Tom Cleverley's first full season in charge, but while they are in a strong position, some concerns have emerged during the opening few months of the campaign.

Vicarage Road has been a fortress this season, with 16 of Watford's 19 points coming on their own patch, and they have beaten some of their promotion rivals in Sunderland, Middlesbrough, and most recently, Blackburn.

However, it has been a different story on the road for the Hornets, and they have lost their last five away league games, conceding 13 goals in the process, while they were also beaten 2-1 at Manchester City in the EFL Cup.

Another worrying trend for Watford is their habit of conceding early away from home, with Sheffield United, Norwich City and Leeds United all taking the lead against Cleverley's men within the first four minutes, and the latter were even able to establish a two-goal advantage inside seven minutes.

Cleverley admitted earlier this month that the "away form is an issue", and after the 3-0 defeat to local rivals Luton Town, he identified the "mindset and approach" of his players as key reasons for their problems.

Sheffield Wednesday must exploit Watford away vulnerability

Wednesday will surely be encouraged by Watford's poor recent away form, and they will be looking to cause further misery for the Hornets on their travels on Saturday.

While the Owls' home form has been inconsistent, they have only been beaten by Leeds United and Burnley on their own patch this season, and there is no shame in that given that those sides currently sit third and second in the table respectively.

Wednesday are more than capable of putting teams under pressure at Hillsborough, and they will be confident that they will get chances against a Hornets defence that has conceded 19 goals already this campaign, which is the joint-fourth highest in the division.

The Owls have not been prolific scorers this season, but Windass and Smith will have been boosted by their goals at Portsmouth last week, while Djeidi Gassama will take plenty of belief from his strike against Brentford on Tuesday night.

Wednesday must also be wary of Watford's threats, and the likes of Giorgi Chakvetadze and Kwadwo Baah could cause them serious problems, but they will be optimistic of picking up all three points this weekend.

Expectations at Hillsborough were dampened slightly after the Owls' poor start to the season, but a win over the Hornets could put Rohl's men within touching distance of the play-off places, and that should give them strong motivation ahead of Saturday's fixture.