Roy Hodgson makes Crystal Palace Premier League relegation claim after taking Watford job

New Watford manager Roy Hodgson has said the Hornets aren't in too dissimilar a position as to the one he found when he took over at Crystal Palace in 2017.

The 74-year-old, who was appointed as Claudio Ranieri's successor at Vicarage Road last week, took over at relegation-threatened Palace after they had lost their first four games of the season without scoring a single goal.

Hodgson eventually steered them well clear of the drop and all the way to an 11th-placed finish in the table by the end of the season, maintaining his record of never being relegated as a Premier League manager.

He pulled off similar great escapes at Fulham in 2007 and West Brom in 2011, and takes over at Watford with the Hornets currently 19th in the table and two points from safety, albeit with games in hand over the sides above them.

Ahead of his side's crucial game against Burnley this weekend, Hodgson was asked how the state of affairs at Vicarage Road compared to some of his previous clubs.

"Well, I think it's pretty similar really to Fulham," he told reporters. "Palace was exceptional in the sense that, you know, four games in a row and no points. But having said that, you know, in seven games, we still had no points, and we got three points on the eighth one.

"Well, that's probably more than we've got here for a while. So it's certainly not an awful lot better than the Palace situation."

Hodgson's immediate task will be to get points on the board for Watford, who haven't won a Premier League match since their 4-1 victory over Manchester United at Vicarage Road in mid-November.

A run of seven losses in eight games followed which ultimately cost Ranieri his job at the helm of the club, with Hodgson now hoping he and trusty assistant Ray