Watford v Chelsea live stream and team news: Blues face former boss Ranieri in Premier League contest – kick-off time, latest news and how to follow

Premier League leaders Chelsea will be looking to return to winning ways when they make the trip to Watford this evening.

Chelsea drew with Manchester United on Sunday as second place Man City closed the gap to the top.

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The Blues will now take on a familiar face in Claudio Ranieri. 

Ex-Chelsea boss Ranieri saw his Watford side lose 1-0 to Southampton over the weekend.

The Hornets need to pick up points soon and start moving away from the relegation zone. 

Watford v Chelsea: Date and time

This Premier League clash will take place on Wednesday, December 1.

The clash will be held at Vicarage Road with a kick-off time of 7:30pm.

Chelsea beat Watford home and away last season including a 2-1 win in this fixture.

Watford v Chelsea: How to follow

Updates will be live on talkSPORT throughout the evening.

The match will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime and customers can live stream this via the app using their mobile, tablet or computer devices.

Non-members can start a 30-day FREE trial of Amazon Prime – which will grant them access to all of the action. 

Alternatively, new customers can join Amazon Prime for just £7.99 per month or £79 for the year.

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Watford v Chelsea: Team news

Watford will again be without Ben Foster and Ismaila Sarr.

Emmanuel Dennis is a doubt while Juraj Kucka and Adam Masina are carrying knocks too and could miss out.

Chelsea will hand late fitness tests to Jorginho, Reece James and Timo Werner.

The trio trained on Tuesday but require further assessment following Sunday's draw with United.

Tuchel, who will once again be without Ben Chilwell, Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante, said: “We have some players in doubt, maybe we need a bit more time, a bit more examination to re-evaluate the status.

"It's Reece James, Jorginho and Timo Werner. They all trained today with us and there will be some last-minute decisions about this."

Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic will all miss out.

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Watford v Chelsea: What has been said?

Thomas Tuchel has insisted Chelsea must be satisfied with topping the Premier League heading into December despite frustrating, consecutive home draws.

"How could you not be satisfied? I'm happy with the way we played, the courage and the intensity, the will and the ambition," said Tuchel.

"It's a hungry team and a team that plays with a lot of effort.

"This is what I like, it's exciting to coach and exciting to watch.

"If maybe you don't score from the set-piece against Juventus for the first goal, or if Thiago Silva does not save the Morata chance on the line, it's always possible that what happened against Manchester United could happen against Juventus. This can always happen.

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"But I'm very happy with where we are and how we are performing."

Watford v Chelsea: Match facts

• Watford have lost seven of their last eight Premier League meetings with Chelsea, winning the other 4-1 in February 2018. The Hornets have conceded 21 goals in these eight games (2.6 per game).
• Chelsea have won their last two away league games against Watford, but have never won three in a row at Vicarage Road before.
• Since a goalless draw in February 2016, there has been 33 goals scored in eight Premier League games between Watford (12 goals) and Chelsea (21), at an average of 4.1 per game.
• Watford won their last Premier League game on a Wednesday, beating Wolves 2-1 in January 2020. The Hornets had never previously won a Premier League match on this day before that (D4 L12).
• Chelsea haven’t won any of their last five Premier League games played on a Wednesday (D2 L3). The Blues last had a longer winless run on a specific weekday between November 2010 and February 2011 (6 games on Sundays).
• Watford haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 23 Premier League matches, the longest current run of any team, and have shipped 45 goals in these games since a 3-0 win over Liverpool in February 2020.
• Chelsea have won their last four Premier League away games by an aggregate score of 10-0. They last won more consecutively on the road without conceding in the competition between September and December 2008, a run of six under Felipe Scolari.
• Managers who have previously taken charge of Chelsea in the Premier League have won just six of their 37 games in the competition against the Blues (D8 L23). Watford boss Claudio Ranieri did so with Leicester in December 2015, and he could become the first former Chelsea manager to beat them with two different clubs in the competition.
• Jorginho has scored 15 Premier League goals for Chelsea, with 13 of those coming from the penalty spot – that ratio of 87% of his goals coming from penalties is the highest in Premier League history of any player to have scored at least 10 goals in the competition.
• Claudio Ranieri’s six Premier League games in charge of Watford have so far seen 25 goals scored (11 for, 14 against), the most in a manager’s first six games in charge of a club since Frank Lampard at Chelsea (also 25).