The Hornets are on the road once again, this time journeying up to Deepdale to face Preston North End (Saturday August 20, 3pm KO) in the Sky Bet Championship.

Ahead of the approaching encounter, we take a look back at five of the best matches between Watford and the Lilywhites.

Watford 3-2 Preston North End – August 24, 1974

A match full of flair, intensity and attacking football - when Watford and Preston met in August 1974, goals were guaranteed. The Lilywhites were under the stewardship of player-manager and World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton, while the Hornets were managed by Mike Keen.

After a draw with Colchester United in the opening game of the season, Watford were hoping to begin their home campaign with a victory. It started well as Keen’s Hornets romped to a three-goal lead, with Dennis Bond notching a brace and Pat Morrissey heading home.

Mike Elwiss was able to reduce the arrears for the visitors on the stroke of half-time, while Mel Holden scored the last goal in a brilliant match between the two sides.

Watford 3-1 Preston North End – January 17, 1998

In the third-tier, Graham Taylor’s Watford were flying-high as they entered the new year. Peter Kennedy, who was joined by Jason Lee up-front, opened the scoring for the Hornets before the 20-minute mark.

An impressive display set-up the second as Richard Johnson, Kennedy, Lee and Micah Hyde all got involved, with the latter concluding the move at the far post. A shellshocked Preston team were two goals down within 30 minutes.

The travelling side did eventually get back to their feet and put GT’s team under an immense amount of pressure, earning a goal back soon after. With the momentum firmly with Preston, against the run of play, Kennedy made it three to the relief of the supporters at The Vic.

With the victory secured, Watford would go on to finish the season as champions and win promotion to the First Division.

Watford 2-0 Preston North End – February 14, 2004

Valentine’s Day 2004 saw the Hornets and the Lilywhites go head-to-head in the second-tier. Watford had struggled during the winter period, only winning once since December, but manager Ray Lewington was determined to stop the rot.

Eighteen-year-old Hameur Bouazza scored on his full debut for the club to put the Hornets into the ascendancy on the cusp of half-time. A stubborn and astute Watford defence were able to hold off the Lilywhites for long enough to snatch a second.

Paul Devlin’s late strike secured the Golden Boys’ first victory of 2004, keeping just a second clean sheet in two months.

Watford 2-0 Preston North End – November 7, 2009

Having only lost four games since the start of the season, the Hornets had made a decent start to the 2009/10 campaign, occupying the mid-table positions.

When the whistle blew for kick-off at Vicarage Road, Watford started brightly and turned the pressure up on the opposition immediately. It would lead to the opener within the first 10 minutes from Heiðar Helguson, who was back on-loan with the Golden Boys.

The Player of the Season that campaign and current Watford captain Tom Cleverley would double the lead going into the break, and due to an impressive goalkeeping performance from Hornet Scott Loach, that’s how the match would conclude.

Watford 4-1 Preston North End – November 28, 2020

In the second-most recent meeting between the sides, Watford put four past Preston at The Vic in an impressive display of attacking intent.

Domingos Quina was first to etch his name onto the scoresheet, powering Ismaïla Sarr’s cross past goalkeeper Declan Rudd on the volley. After a quiet end to the first half, the Hornets fired back into action after the interval, scoring two in 10 minutes through Troy Deeney and Nathaniel Chalobah.

Despite a Tom Barkhuizen consolation strike, João Pedro secured the victory by notching the fourth and moving Watford up to third place in the second-tier table, making it 19 points from a possible 21 at Vicarage Road.

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