Aston Villa cannot make same Watford mistake after Hodgson receives huge boost

Aston Villa are set to host Watford this weekend as Steven Gerrard and his side look to bounce back after a disappointing 1-0 loss to Newcastle United.

Villa lost 3-2 to the Hornets on the opening day of the season and the vast majority of their problems were caused by Ismalia Sarr tormenting Matt Targett, who was often found to be playing extremely high up the pitch.

For the first goal, Targett failed to win his aerial duel on the half way line and then struggled to recover, as Sarr ploughed forward and found Emmanuel Dennis in the box, who made no mistake on his second attempt in front of goal.

The same situation then repeated itself, as Targett was once again caught out at the halfway line attempting to win the ball in the air. Sarr beat him to it, flicked the ball on and then proceeded to run through on goal after receiving it back from Dennis. A situation which eventually led to Sarr's deflected effort looping over Emiliano Martinez in the Villa goal.

Finally, Watford's third goal of the afternoon came on a counterattack as Cucho Hernandez cut in from the left and curled his effort in off the post. Emi Buendia was attempting to cover the player, after Matty Cash was found to be out of position further up the pitch. Once again outlining how having the Villa fullback further up the pitch has led to a chance for Watford to score in.

A common characteristic of Steven Gerrard's side is how high up he likes Lucas Digne and Cash to play, which could once again cause Villa the same problems they experienced on the opening day of the season. Especially given the fact Roy Hodgson has been handed a huge boost with the return of Sarr from the Africa Cup of Nations.

He played 45 minutes in their last game and in this short