How Watford’s Dennis and Sarr could be a deadly force in the Premier League this season

Just barely a year ago, Watford had suffered the agony of relegation from the Premier League after five years of staying afloat.

Instant promotion was the target and they didn’t waste time in getting things off in the Championship with an opening day win at home to Middlesbrough. From there on, they recorded 27 wins from 46 matches to finish second which guaranteed an automatic return to the Premier League.

Opening day wins are very important because they give morale boosts and the Hornets did that with a 3-2 win over Aston Villa last weekend.

The highlight of the high-octane game was Nigeria and Senegal forwards Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaila Sarr finding the back of the net and also assisting each others goals.

This received a lot of plaudits from players, fans and the manager. The combination of Dennis and Sarr is indeed a recipe for swift attacking moves and goals, which Dennis – a summer signing from Belgian side, Club Brugge, is happy about.

“I think we will do wonders together [Dennis and Sarr], we train together in training, we always train together and I know the combination will be very important for me if I am going to be the no.9 for the team, so I am really happy with the combination,” he said.

“The most important thing is the team understands each other.”

Dennis didn’t have the most productive of seasons in 2020-21, with just two goals and four assists to his names across spells with Brugge and FC Cologne in Germany. The 23-year-old is however a threat from set pieces and offers a lot defensively, and these could be very key for Watford. 

For Sarr, he made headlines when he joined the Hornets from Rennes in the summer of 2019. His blistering pace, dribbling and finishing were simply eye-catching, his brightest moment coming in a 3-0 win over Liverpool where he scored a brace, the result effectively ending the Reds hopes of going the entire season unbeaten.

Sarr has drawn interest of big sides since then, including Liverpool and Manchester United, but he’s remained at Vicarage Road and his 23 Championship goal involvements (13 goals, 10 assists), the most of any Watford player, very crucial for promotion.

Watford coach Xisco admitted that finding space for Dennis and Sarr is key to their prowess and believes with that, they can take on anyone which will give Watford the needed results.

“We tried to create space for Dennis and Sarr. It was a brilliant game as we could’ve scored more,” Xisco said.

“We know how well he [Sarr] can play, and we know he is a top player. If he has space, he can beat anyone. I think Sarr, Dennis, and [Ken] Sema understand how to attack the space.”

Asides Dennis, Watford have a contingent of four other Nigerians in Oghenekaro Etebo, William Troost-Ekong, Isaac Success and Tom Dele-Bashiru. Etebo and Troost-Ekong were involved in the action against Villa and Etebo was full of praise for Dennis and Sarr’s performance.

“I’m happy for my Nigerian brother [Dennis] and Sarr as well. They did well, you can see they’ve got good pace, they run forward and are direct players,” he said.

Another drop to the Championship will be gut-wrenching to say the least for Watford. However with Dennis and Sarr’s combination, there’s a partnership that will not only trouble Premier League defenses, but will ensure the goal of survival is met at the end of the season.

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Kunle is an avid writer with interest in topics on sports, politics and health. His articles have featured in Goal.com, Opera News and Vanguard News. He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in International Relations and is an advocate for people living with Hydrocephalus and other neurological conditions.

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