Sunderland travel to Watford for their final away game of the 2023-24 campaign with both teams jostling for places in mid-table of the Championship.

Sunderland's season has take a significant downturn since the last time the two sides met at the Stadium of Light where a Tony Mowbray-led side secured a 2-0 win over Valérien Ismaël's Watford thanks to goals from Niall Huggins and Abdoullah Ba.

 

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It was a result which saw Sunderland climb to fourth in the Championship table with 19 points from their opening 10 games of the season while Watford struggled towards the wrong end of the division. 

Both Mowbray and Ismaël have since left their posts in what has been a somewhat turbulent season for both clubs. Sunderland head to Vicarage Road looking to end their away campaign on a high having gone three games unbeaten on the road, including victories over Cardiff City and West Bromwich Albion. 

A win for Mike Dodds' side will keep their hopes of a top half finish alive while victory for Watford will see them climb above Sunderland. 

The similarities between the two clubs go beyond their respective league positions, however, with both clubs following similar philosophies when it comes to recruitment and the role of a head coach. Watford, infamously, have seen a number of managers come and go in recent years while the recent high-profile sales of key players such as Joao Pedro and Ismaïla Sarr are something Sunderland supporters will be braced for when it comes to the likes of Jack Clarke, Dan Neil and Dan Ballard.

Matty Hewitt and Joe Ramage are joined by Sam Ucko of WD18 Fans to get the insight from Vicarage Road ahead of the weekend's fixture with lessons Sunderland could learn from Watford, who Sunderland need to be wary of and what the view of Sunderland is from an outside perspective, including the decision to part company with Mowbray.

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