• A key pressing variation.
• Watford down to ten men.

Base formation

Following an outstanding win against Swansea City, Johannes Hoff Thorup made only one change to his starting eleven, replacing Hernandez with Sorenson, while Tom Cleverley made four changes to his Watford side, bringing in Andrews, Abankwah, Louza, and Sissoko to the hosts’ 4-2-3-1.

Ben Lee’s tactical analysis of the Watford vs Norwich City match (Image: Ben Lee)

During Norwich’s goalkeeper restarts, the visitors lined up in their regular 4-3-3 formation, while Watford switched to a 4-1-4-1 high press, with Dele-Bashiru (24) moving forward to occupy McLean (23).

As Gunn (1) received the opening ball from his left, Bayo (19) rushed from the front, the left winger occupied Sorenson (19), the offensive midfielder kept close to Marcondes (11), and the right winger prepared to press Mahovo (47) out wide.

This skewed pressing structure left Fisher (35) open on Norwich’s right, but Watford’s left-back advanced and prepared to press if City played to that side.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

When Norwich moved out to the left, Kayembe (39) rushed to press the centre-back. With Marcondes (11) free to receive behind him, Louza (10) jumped into the second line to intercept the ball.

Because of this heavy press, Watford’s 4-1-4-1 high press became a 4-4-2, and the hosts occasionally drove Norwich long into a 4v3 last-line disadvantage.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

In open-play deep build-up phases, Marcondes (11) frequently moved into the space between the lines, leaving Sorenson (19) and McLean (23) as a double pivot in a 2-4 build-up structure.

With Louza (10) frequently positioned in the right half-space and Dele-Bashiru (24) shifting between deeper and more advanced pressing responsibilities to his left, Marcondes (11) slotted in between the two midfielders.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

As Norwich moved beyond their deepest build-up phases, a new rotation saw them return to their old 3-2-2-3 structure, with a box midfield creating a central 4v3 overload.

They created this shape when Fisher (35) inverted – not into a pivot position, but into one of City’s two number ten roles between the lines – while Mahovo (47) shifted infield from left-back to create a back three as a hybrid left centre-back.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Usually performed by an advancing number eight or an inverting winger, City’s dual number ten roles forced Dele-Bashiru (24) to drop into the space alongside Louza (10) as Watford moved between their 4-1-4-1 mid-press and a 4-2-3-1 mid-block.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

When Norwich advanced towards Watford’s half, the two number tens moved into the last line, creating a clear 3-2-5 structure and the potential for a 5v4 overload against the back four.

With Dele-Bashiru (24) dropping to occupy Fisher (35), and Watford’s wingers responsible for pressing City’s outside centre-backs, Sorenson (19) became free to receive on the half-turn.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

As City moved into Watford’s half, Dele-Bashiru (24) was drawn to Sorenson (19) again, leaving Fisher (35) free to receive in space between the lines. City’s inverting right-back then played out wide to Schwartau (29) before overlapping to cross into the box from the right.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)In another instance later in the first half, Norwich played across to Mahovo (47), and Watford’s right-winger jumped from their 4-2-3-1 to press from the front.

In response, Marcondes (11) dropped to the side of the host’s defensive block to open a wide passing lane, but City’s Danish midfielder was followed by Louza (10).

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

In a similar situation with the wide pass blocked, Mahovo (47) played a long diagonal to the feet of Schwartau (29) in a 2v1 against the left-back on the far side.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Despite the significant upsides of this structure, particularly with a player of Fisher’s (35) tight-space ability occupying such a crucial zone, the new rotation wasn’t without risk.

Indeed, despite City’s 3-2 rest defence, Fisher’s (35) position gave him a big distance to cover in defensive transitions. But when Watford targeted the space he’d vacated, Sorenson (19) temporarily dropped into a back four to prevent a 4v3 and to allow Duffy (4) to track the winger.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

With Watford down to ten men following Bayo’s (19) red card, the hosts moved between a 4-4-1 mid-block and a more proactive 4-2-3 mid-press, with the wingers ready to press Norwich’s outside centre-backs.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

But a new pattern from Thorup’s side saw McLean (23) drop into the back three, allowing Mahovo (47) to advance towards the last line to create an overload on the left.

With Watford’s right-winger still drawn to press from the front, McLean (23) found Mahovo (47) in space via Sorenson (19) when the Dane received on the blind side of the host’s centre-forward.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Another slick pattern from Norwich saw Sargent (9) drop between the lines, dragging Watford’s left centre-back and left centre-midfielder out of position, before bouncing the ball back to Sorenson (19), who found Fisher (35) free in another wide 2v1.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Later in the second half, with Norwich in their 3-2-5 and Watford becoming increasingly desperate, Louza (10) was drawn to press McLean (23). This isolated Kayembe (39) in a 2v1 against City’s number tens, which forced a centre-back to jump onto Marcondes (11).

But City’s number eleven flicked the ball through Abankwah’s (25) legs to find Sargent (9) running into the space he’d vacated. The following attack saw Andrews (45) bring down the number nine in what could easily have been another red-card offence.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)During Watford’s goalkeeper restarts before the red card, Kayembe (39) occasionally advanced towards Bayo (19) in the last line, while Norwich initially set up in their usual 4-3-3 high press.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

The hosts often either went long or played out wide to one of the full-backs early in the build-up. But in most high-pressing situations beyond goalkeeper restarts, Marcondes (11) advanced into a number ten position and Norwich’s wingers dropped to create a 4-2-3-1 shape.

When Watford played to a full-back, City’s nearest winger pressed out wide, while Marcondes (11) occupied the ball-side pivot, and the remaining winger tracked the far-side pivot.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

When Watford shifted across to the opposite full-back, Norwich completed the same process, with Marcondes (11) jumping across to the other pivot and the wingers switching roles.

Ben Lee’s tactical analysis of the Watford vs Norwich City match (Image: Ben Lee)

However, as Watford went out to the right, Marcondes (11) was too sluggish to get between the two pivots, causing McLean (23) to pounce on the free player.

This created a passing opening for the host’s right center-back and Kayembe (39), who dropped to receive between the lines. But McLean (23) did well to track back, and Mahovo (47) pressured the right-back after advancing to receive from Kayembe (39).

Ben Lee’s tactical analysis of the Watford vs Norwich City match (Image: Ben Lee)

When Cleverley’s team advanced, they frequently used a 3-1-6, with Louza (10) dropping between the centre-backs and the full-backs overlapping beyond the inverted wingers on each side. Norwich responded by switching to their normal 4-5-1 midfield formation.

The hosts launched promising wide-area attacks when the winger or full-back received and the other overlapped or underlapped into space behind.

Watford 0-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

But the hosts didn’t do enough to score, and as much as their manager criticized the referee and Thorup’s men’s ‘dark arts,’ this was a game won by the best team, thanks to great performances from potential young stars such as Fisher and Mahovo.

You can find all of Ben’s prior analysis of Norwich City games on his social media pages.

X: NCFC Analysis.

Website: NCFC Analysis.

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