Saturday 28 October 2017 10:25, UK
Watford head coach Marco Silva wants referees to give Richarlison more protection.
The 20-year old Brazilian winger has made an impressive start to his career in England following his move from Fluminense in the summer in a deal worth £13m.
He has scored three goals in his first eight games for Watford and Jamie Redknapp has said there are certain things he does that remind him of a young Cristiano Ronaldo.
But Richarlison is also finding himself a marked man in the Premier League and is currently the most fouled player, having been brought down 30 times already this season.
"We as a club, and what I expect, is that everyone respects and protects the player," Silva told the Daily Star.
"I understand that he is an important player for us and defenders will give him more attention. What I want is the officials to protect him like they do to the other players."
Richarlison was at the centre of a diving storm recently when he was accused of going down easily for the penalty which gave Watford a 2-1 win over Arsenal at Vicarage Road earlier this month.
He was cleared by the FA and Silva hopes the incident won't influence referees to make decisions that go against him.
He added: "After the match against Arsenal a lot of people started to speak about the boy, but not in the right way.
"He has been excellent and deserves all the credit. We knew when we signed him that he was player who could hold his own in the Premier League."
Watford play Stoke on Saturday and are hoping a win will take them back into the top four.
