Odion Ighalo put Watford ahead in the 17th minute, Micah Richards headed in the equalizer for Villa in the 41st, before Alan Hutton’s own goal restored Watford’s lead in the 69th.
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Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores believes goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has concussion after suffering a head injury.
Jordan Ayew curled in an excellent second goal for Villa in the 89th minute but here wasn’t enough time for them to find the equaliser.
But Watford’s fifth Premier League win of the season was marred by a serious-looking injury to Gomes, who was caught by defender Craig Cathcart as he dived to claim a low cross.
The Midlands outfit have collected just five points this season and no team has ever survived with that number of points at this stage of the season.
Jack Grealish will not play a part in this fixture after being relegated from the Villa first-team squad due to his off-field behaviour.
Villa, still reeling from the summer departures of Ron Vlaar, Christian Benteke and particularly Fabian Delph, made 12 new signings in the summer, of which only two, Richards himself and his former Manchester City team-mate Scott Sinclair, had previous Premier League experience.
“We had a good game and had chances to score”, he told BBC Sport. It was for four days and I turned up for one.
Bringing in Remi Garde to replace Tim Sherwood as manager has so far failed to bring around a change in the club’s fortunes. This is not the way I want to play, we were a little bit shy. And after the trip to Villa Park, Watford face Norwich and Sunderland – two teams that are also struggling for form. You can probably choose the same old players for defence and midfield but it is having someone who can get the goals that will bring us some points.
“English footballers have become more professional but you see young footballers wanting to live life all over, we forget in their brain they are 20”.
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“I knew people in both ends and some of them messaged me before the game and said: “Today we’re not friends”, and that’s fine with me – but we will go to the bar now and say hello and go back to normal”.
