Watford - The Biggest Game Of The Season So Far!

My God, these biggest games of the season are coming thick and fast at the moment. On Sunday it was vital to stay in touch with Southampton and reopen a buffer zone between ourselves and Reading. Now, we have the opportunity to leapfrog the Saints and reestablish the lead over the Royals.

In some ways, last night's result at Southampton was unfortunate. Whilst it is great that we have the opportunity to climb to the top, the Saints' stumble has given new hope to Reading. They have chased and closed so well, but have not had a sniff of the automatic promotion places - and that can only go on for so long before a team loses heart. Now Southampton are in range - if Reading win their game in hand they are level on points - so even if we win tonight, Reading will fancy themselves of coming through on the slipstream.

Of course, if that is at Southampton's expense we don't care, but we shouldn't get too carried away. A home draw against mid table Ipswich looks poor but the Tractor Boys have fitted a turbo charger recently and are playing more like combine harvesters, so the draw wasn't as big a shock as some people imagine. And, of course, Southampton bettered our results against the sister shaggers.

Either way, tonight's game is absolutely huge now. We have to capitalise, leapfrog Southampton with a game in hand and keep Reading out of reach. The worry is our poor goals per game return at Upton Park - Blackpool apart - which means we are always at risk of dropping home points. Take off the 4 home goals netted against the Tangerine Dreamers and we have netted just 21 goals in 15 games, a pathetic average of just 1.4 goals per game. The opposition average a goal a game in those matches so a 1-1 draw is always on the cards. Why did Southampton stumble last night? Because at 1-0 late in the game you are playing with tight margins - one slip and that's it!

So what team will Allardyce pick tonight? 4-5-1 to accommodate Nolan in an advanced midfield role , or 4-4-2, to give us more goal scoring opportunities whilst running the risk of conceding?

I would favour 4-4-2, with two genuine wide men, Taylor and Vaz Te. My side would throw caution to the wind and invite the players to express themselves, using the following personnel:

Green

O'Brien, Tomkins, Faye, McCartney

Vaz Te, Noble, Nolan, Taylor,

Cole, Baldock

Subs: Boffin, Maynard, Reid (if fit), Collison, Faubert.

Will Allardyce set up like that, or with Maynard in place of Baldock? I doubt it!