The friendly form book displays a traffic light for Crystal Palace, who suffered an opening defeat to Barnet before restoring some parity in a 1-1 draw with Brondby, but Hodgson’s side were in a merciless mood at Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium on Wednesday.
Amid speculation that Palace are trying to offload him, Jean-Philippe Mateta sent a clear message to the Eagles board with a brace inside the opening 16 minutes, before Eberechi Eze and Naouirou Ahamada also got in on the act during a first-half rout.
Hodgson’s side were unable to add to their advantage in the second period, but the damage had been done within the first half-hour, as Hodgson’s side made it third time lucky from their pre-season fixtures ahead of more daunting contests over the next fortnight.
Indeed, Hodgson’s men will soon board a flight to the USA to take on Millonarios and Europa League winners Sevilla, before touching back down in the UK to lock horns with French giants Lyon in front of the Selhurst Park faithful.
Saturday’s battle will see Hodgson reunite with the team who he tried and failed to save from Premier League relegation in the 2021-22 season, and the Hornets have since turned to a Barnsley miracle-worker in their bid to return to the big time.
Hoping to avoid becoming the latest in a long line of Vicarage Road managerial victims, Valerien Ismael is the new man at the Watford helm, replacing Chris Wilder after the former Sheffield United boss won just three of 11 games during his short-lived spell.
Ismael takes over at a Watford side who were knocking on the playoff door during the mid-point of the Championship season – rising into the top three for a brief period under Slaven Bilic – but the Hornets board pulled the trigger on the Croatian as results dipped, and Wilder departed having only achieved a mediocre 11th-placed finish.
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Watford’s FA Cup and EFL Cup journeys also came to an end at the first hurdles, and Ismael hardly got off to the brightest start earlier this month, as his side were stunted in a goalless draw away to local foes Boreham Wood.
However, Watford came away from Arsenal’s London Colney training base with a respectable 1-1 stalemate – taking the lead through Ismael Kone before Marquinhos levelled for the Gunners – and Saturday’s game represents their final friendly before Queens Park Rangers visit Vicarage Road on August 5 in their Championship opener.
During Watford’s doomed 2021-22 season, Hodgson’s Hornets were put to the sword twice by Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace, suffering a 4-1 home defeat before succumbing to a Wilfried Zaha penalty at Selhurst Park on May 7, which sent Watford back down to the second tier.
