# 2021–22 Watford F.C. season

The 2021–22 season was the 123rd season in existence of Watford Football Club and their first season back in the Premier League following their immediate return with promotion from the Championship in the previous season. Watford also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
This season was for the first time since 2009–10 without former club's goalscorer Troy Deeney who joined Birmingham City after his contract expired.

## Managerial changes

On 3 October, the Hornets sacked head coach Xisco. A day later, Claudio Ranieri was appointed the club's new Head Coach, on a two-year contract.
Ranieri was sacked on 24 January and was replaced the following day by Roy Hodgson. Watford would go on to record 2 wins and remain winless in Hodgson’s tenure and be relegated in May 2022 following a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 22 May 2022.
| Squad No. | Name | Position | Age | Since | Ends | Signed from | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | Ben Foster | GK | 39 | 2018 | 2022 | West Brom | 207 | 0 |
| 26 | Daniel Bachmann | GK | 28 | 2017 | 2024 | Stoke | 41 | 0 |
| 35 | Rob Elliot | GK | 36 | 2021 | 2023 | Newcastle | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | Jeremy Ngakia | RB | 21 | 2020 | 2024 | West Ham | 45 | 0 |
| 3 | Danny Rose | LB | 32 | 2021 | 2023 | Tottenham | 16 | 0 |
| 5 | William Troost-Ekong | CB | 28 | 2020 | 2025 | Udinese | 51 | 1 |
| 11 | Adam Masina | LB | 28 | 2018 | 2023 | Bologna | 90 | 3 |
| 13 | Nicolas Nkoulou | CB | 32 | 2021 | 2022 | Torino | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | Hassane Kamara | LB | 28 | 2022 | 2025 | Nice | 19 | 1 |
| 15 | Craig Cathcart | CB | 33 | 2014 | 2023 | Blackpool | 221 | 8 |
| 21 | Kiko Femenía | RB | 31 | 2017 | 2024 | Alavés | 151 | 2 |
| 22 | Samir | CB | 27 | 2022 | 2025 | Udinese | 19 | 0 |
| 27 | Christian Kabasele | CB | 31 | 2016 | 2024 | Genk | 139 | 6 |
| 31 | Francisco Sierralta | CB | 25 | 2020 | 2027 | Udinese | 37 | 1 |
| 42 | James Morris | LB | 20 | 2021 | 2024 | Southampton | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 4 | Oghenekaro Etebo | CM | 26 | 2021 | 2022 | Stoke (loan) | 9 | 0 |
| 6 | Imrân Louza | CM | 23 | 2021 | 2026 | Nantes | 22 | 0 |
| 8 | Tom Cleverley | CM | 33 | 2017 | 2023 | Everton | 177 | 18 |
| 16 | Dan Gosling | CM | 32 | 2021 | 2023 | Bournemouth | 19 | 3 |
| 19 | Moussa Sissoko | CDM | 33 | 2021 | 2023 | Tottenham | 38 | 2 |
| 33 | Juraj Kucka | CM | 35 | 2021 | 2023 | Parma | 27 | 1 |
| 39 | Edo Kayembe | CDM | 24 | 2022 | 2026 | Eupen | 13 | 0 |
| 45 | Kamil Conteh | CM | 19 | 2018 | 2022 | Academy | 1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | Joshua King | ST | 30 | 2021 | 2023 | Everton | 33 | 5 |
| 10 | João Pedro | ST | 20 | 2020 | 2027 | Fluminense | 74 | 13 |
| 12 | Ken Sema | LW | 28 | 2018 | 2026 | Östersunds | 85 | 7 |
| 23 | Ismaïla Sarr | RW | 24 | 2019 | 2024 | Rennes | 92 | 24 |
| 25 | Emmanuel Dennis | ST | 24 | 2021 | 2026 | Club Brugge | 35 | 10 |
| 28 | Samuel Kalu | RW | 24 | 2022 | 2025 | Bordeaux | 4 | 0 |
| 29 | Cucho Hernández | LW | 23 | 2017 | 2024 | Granada | 28 | 5 |
| 34 | Kwadwo Baah | LW | 19 | 2021 | 2026 | Rochdale | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Shaq Forde | ST | 18 | 2012 | 2022 | Academy | 1 | 0 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 17 May 2021 | LW | Kwadwo Baah | Rochdale | Undisclosed |
| 27 May 2021 | CB | Mattie Pollock | Grimsby Town | Undisclosed |
| 2 June 2021 | CM | Imran Louza | Nantes | Undisclosed |
| 21 June 2021 | CF | Emmanuel Dennis | Club Brugge | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2021 | CF | Ashley Fletcher | Middlesbrough | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2021 | LB | Danny Rose | Tottenham Hotspur | Free transfer |
| 9 July 2021 | SS | Joshua King | Everton | Free transfer |
| 9 July 2021 | CF | Dapo Mebude | Rangers | Undisclosed |
| 14 July 2021 | GK | Vincent Angelini | Celtic | Free transfer |
| 5 August 2021 | LB | James Morris | Southampton | Free transfer |
| 6 August 2021 | CM | Juraj Kucka | Parma | Undisclosed |
| 27 August 2021 | CM | Moussa Sissoko | Tottenham Hotspur | £3,000,000 |
| 23 September 2021 | CF | Jimiel Chikukwa | Leeds United | Free transfer |
| 7 October 2021 | CB | Nicolas Nkoulou | Torino | Free transfer |
| 1 January 2022 | GK | Maduka Okoye | Sparta Rotterdam | Undisclosed |
| 4 January 2022 | LB | Hassane Kamara | Nice | £4,000,000 |
| 6 January 2022 | CB | Samir | Udinese | Undisclosed |
| 7 January 2022 | DM | Edo Kayembe | KAS Eupen | Undisclosed |
| 26 January 2022 | RW | Samuel Kalu | Bordeaux | Undisclosed |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 9 June 2021 | CB | Craig Dawson | West Ham United | £2,000,000 |
| 24 June 2021 | CB | Ben Wilmot | Stoke City | Undisclosed |
| 30 June 2021 | CB | Mason Barrett | Unattached | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | AM | Mitchel Bergkamp | Unattached | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | GK | Mac Chisholm | West Bromwich Albion | Released (scholar) |
| 30 June 2021 | CF | Sam Dalby | Southend United | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | RM | Harry Forster | Bromley | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CF | Thomas Horsewood | Hertford Town | Released (scholar) |
| 30 June 2021 | LB | Achraf Lazaar | Portimonense | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CM | Henry Ochieng | Billericay Town | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | AM | Phoenix Patterson | Waterford | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CB | Teddy Perkins | Welling United | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | DM | Carlos Sánchez | Santa Fe | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CF | Jerome Sinclair | Unattached | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CB | Bayli Spencer-Adams | Leicester City | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CB | Maxwell Statham | Welling United | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | LB | Toby Stevenson | Bromley | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | FW | Max Thompson | Unattached | Released (scholar) |
| 14 July 2021 | DF | James Debayo | Leeds United | Undisclosed |
| 16 July 2021 | LB | Tomas Galvez | Manchester City | Undisclosed |
| 16 July 2021 | MF | Bosun Lawal | Celtic | Undisclosed |
| 9 August 2021 | CF | Filip Stuparević | Metalac Gornji Milanovac | Free transfer |
| 14 August 2021 | CF | Stipe Perica | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Undisclosed |
| 26 August 2021 | CF | Isaac Success | Udinese | Undisclosed |
| 28 August 2021 | CM | Will Hughes | Crystal Palace | Undisclosed |
| 30 August 2021 | CF | Troy Deeney | Birmingham City | Free transfer |
| 31 August 2021 | DM | Nathaniel Chalobah | Fulham | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2021 | RB | Marc Navarro | Unattached | Released |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Date until | Ref. |
| 9 July 2021 | CM | | Peter Etebo | Stoke City | End of season | |
| 19 August 2021 | CM | | Ozan Tufan | Fenerbahçe | 2 February 2022 | |
* ↑ On 2 February, Tufan's loan was terminated by mutual consent.

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 1 July 2021 | RW | Ignacio Pussetto | Udinese | End of season |
| 1 July 2021 | CB | Jorge Segura | América de Cali | End of season |
| 9 July 2021 | AM | Juergen Elitim | Deportivo La Coruña | End of season |
| 12 July 2021 | CF | Adalberto Peñaranda | Las Palmas | End of season |
| 19 July 2021 | CF | Tiago Çukur | Doncaster Rovers | 11 January 2022 |
| 20 July 2021 | GK | Myles Roberts | Concord Rangers | End of season |
| 23 July 2021 | GK | Adam Parkes | Dover Athletic | End of season |
| 23 July 2021 | CM | Daniel Phillips | Gillingham | End of season |
| 30 July 2021 | GK | Alfie Marriott | Kings Langley | January 2022 |
| 4 August 2021 | GK | Dante Baptiste | Farnborough | End of season |
| 4 August 2021 | CF | Dapo Mebude | AFC Wimbledon | End of season |
| 6 August 2021 | GK | Pontus Dahlberg | Doncaster Rovers | 14 January 2022 |
| 7 August 2021 | RW | Philip Zinckernagel | Nottingham Forest | End of season |
| 12 August 2021 | CM | Tom Dele-Bashiru | Reading | End of season |
| 12 August 2021 | MF | Dominic Hutchinson | Eastbourne Borough | End of season |
| 13 August 2021 | RW | Sonny Blu Lo-Everton | Yeovil Town | End of season |
| 17 August 2021 | LW | Joseph Hungbo | Ross County | End of season |
| 30 August 2021 | CB | Mattie Pollock | Cheltenham Town | End of season |
| 31 August 2021 | CM | Jaime Alvarado | Racing de Ferrol | End of season |
| 31 August 2021 | CF | Andre Gray | Queens Park Rangers | End of season |
| 31 August 2021 | CM | Domingos Quina | Fulham | 1 February 2022 |
| 2 October 2021 | CB | Will Hall | Kings Langley | Undisclosed |
| 18 December 2021 | CM | Adian Manning | Kings Langley | Undisclosed |
| 1 January 2022 | GK | Maduka Okoye | Sparta Rotterdam | End of season |
| 14 January 2022 | GK | Pontus Dahlberg | Gillingham | End of season |
| 22 January 2022 | MF | JJ McKiernan | Bohemians | 13 November 2022 |
| 23 January 2022 | CF | Ryan Cassidy | Bohemians | End of season |
| 1 February 2022 | CM | Domingos Quina | Barnsley | End of season |
| 5 February 2022 | CM | Kamil Conteh | Braintree Town | End of season |
| 28 February 2022 | CF | Ashley Fletcher | New York Red Bulls | End of season |
| 1 March 2022 | MF | Adian Manning | Biggleswade Town | 26 March 2022 |
* ↑ On 11 January, Çukur was recalled back from his loan spell at Doncaster.
* ↑ On 14 January, Dahlberg was recalled early from his loan spell at Doncaster.
* ↑ On 1 February, Quina was recalled to facilitate a loan to Barnsley.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Watford announced they would play friendlies against West Bromwich Albion, Stevenage Nantes, and Udinese as part of their pre-season schedule.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Everton | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 43 | 66 | −23 | 39 | |
| 17 | Leeds United | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 42 | 79 | −37 | 38 | |
| 18 | Burnley (R) | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 35 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 19 | Watford (R) | 38 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 34 | 77 | −43 | 23 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 20 | Norwich City (R) | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 23 | 84 | −61 | 22 | Relegation to EFL Championship |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Premier League

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L |
| Position | 7 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 16 June 2021.

### FA Cup

Watford were drawn away to Leicester City in the third round.

### EFL Cup

Watford entered the competition in the second round and were drawn at home to Crystal Palace and Stoke City in the third round.

## Statistics
### Appearances

Last updated: 22 May 2022. Source: premierleague.com
| No. | Pos. | Player | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | GK | Ben Foster | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | Daniel Bachmann | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 35 | GK | Rob Elliot | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | DF | Jeremy Ngakia | 9+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12+7 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Danny Rose | 7+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | William Troost-Ekong | 15+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16+2 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Adam Masina | 13+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | Nicolas Nkoulou | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | Hassane Kamara | 18+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18+1 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | Craig Cathcart | 27+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28+4 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Kiko Femenía | 26+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 26+2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Samir | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Christian Kabasele | 12+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13+4 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | Francisco Sierralta | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 42 | DF | James Morris | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 4 | MF | Peter Etebo | 4+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Imran Louza | 17+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19+3 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Tom Cleverley | 20+8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 21+9 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Ken Sema | 7+11 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9+12 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Dan Gosling | 2+2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+3 | 1 |
| 18 | MF | Ozan Tufan | 4+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6+3 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Moussa Sissoko | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 37+1 | 2 |
| 33 | MF | Juraj Kucka | 22+4 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22+5 | 1 |
| 39 | MF | Edo Kayembe | 9+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9+4 | 0 |
| 45 | MF | Kamil Conteh | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 7 | FW | Joshua King | 27+5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28+5 | 5 |
| 10 | FW | João Pedro | 15+13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16+13 | 4 |
| 17 | FW | Ashley Fletcher | 0+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3+3 | 2 |
| 23 | FW | Ismaïla Sarr | 21+1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21+1 | 5 |
| 25 | FW | Emmanuel Dennis | 30+3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 30+5 | 10 |
| 28 | FW | Samuel Kalu | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Cucho Hernández | 12+13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15+13 | 5 |
| 47 | FW | Shaq Forde | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rank | Pos. | No. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | 25 | Emmanuel Dennis | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | FW | 7 | Joshua King | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | FW | 23 | Ismaïla Sarr | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | FW | 29 | Cucho Hernández | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | FW | 10 | João Pedro | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | FW | 17 | Ashley Fletcher | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 19 | Moussa Sissoko | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | 14 | Hassane Kamara | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | 16 | Dan Gosling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | 33 | Juraj Kucka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 34 | 1 | 2 | 37 |
Last updated: 22 May 2022. Source: premierleague.com

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.
| Rank | No. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | Ben Foster | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |