Irons coming face to face with Zarate
And assessing the game on the official site skipper Mark Noble says the Irons are ready to erase memories of their London Stadium meltdown against the Hornets back in September and upsetting TWO of his former West Ham teammates in the process.
He said: “Like we have done a lot of times this season, we were punished for our mistakes against Watford. I’ve watched Watford a lot and they’re a good team, have good players and they’re good at home so we have to be really on it to get a result there.
“Valon Behrami I’ve known for years now and I’ve played against him many times. He’s a top geezer. I enjoyed his company at the Club.
“Then obviously Mauro [Zarate] scored some really important goals for us and you can’t forget them. He’s got a lot of talent and we’re going to have to be aware of him.”
Having lost just three of their last 12 games Noble added: “After what happened over Christmas [with the Dimitri Payet situation], the past six weeks have been great.
“The lads are digging in for each other and we’ve signed some really good players, players who want to play for the team and work for the team. It’s been really good the last six weeks.
“When you look at the league now, it’s probably what everyone expects it to be. With the top six, the money they have at their disposal is massive and last year was probably a freak year, like everyone knows. The rest of the league is up for fight.
“We were struggling early on but we managed to put a few results together and get back mid-table and now we’re looking upwards. This year’s leveled out again and this year’s back to what it should be.”