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What took 16 home games last season only needed six this time

Paul Robinson was back at Vicarage Road as Watford employee on Saturday. <i>(Image: Alan Cozzi/Watford FC)</i>
Paul Robinson was back at Vicarage Road as Watford employee on Saturday. (Image: Alan Cozzi/Watford FC)

Watford have secured as many points at Vicarage Road in the first six Championship games of this season as they did in the final 16 home games of last season.

With five wins and a draw so far at home, the Hornets have 16 points on the board already.

The final 16 matches of last season at Vicarage Road delivered three wins, seven draws and six defeats, also equating to 16 points.

It has taken Watford eight home games to record seven victories at Vicarage Road this season, which matches what Graham Taylor achieved in his first season at the club in the 1977/78 campaign.

It has only been bettered three times, with Watford winning all of their first seven home games in 1899/00, 1903/04 and then 1985/86, the latter under Taylor.

In stark contrast, it took the Hornets until their last home game of last season to record their seventh home league and cup win.

This is the first time this century that Watford have been unbeaten in 12 consecutive home matches, but such runs are not uncommon in Watford’s history.

For example, the Hornets have enjoyed a run of 13 games unbeaten at home 119 times so far.

The best run of unbeaten home games is a staggering 29, covering more than a year, starting with a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace under Bill McGarry on October 15, 1963, and ending with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Gillingham on December 19, 1964 under Ken Furphy.

Saturday marked Watford scoring in each of their first eight home league and cup games for the seventh time in the last 40 years.

It is the first time since 2014/15 they have scored in all eight of their opening fixtures at Vicarage Road. It is a feat managed in only 23 seasons so far.

Watford have scored 18 in their first eight home games of the season, their best total since they netted 24 in the same number of opening fixtures at Vicarage Road at the start of the 1985/86 campaign.

The 18 goals also match both the 1980/81 and 81/82 seasons in what was then Division Two under Taylor, the latter of which saw the Hornets promoted to the top-flight for the first time.

There were 7,697 days between Paul Robinson’s last appearance at Vicarage Road for Watford (1-1 v Burnley, September 30, 2003) as a player and his first appearance at Vicarage Road as a Watford coach on Saturday.

Additional stats from Jon Sinclair's WFC database at https://wfc.net/Database