Chelsea vs Watford preview: Eden Hazard's Premier League home farewell?

Eden Hazard could play his final Premier League home game for Chelsea when they host Watford on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).

Hazard is out of contract in 2020 and has been strongly linked with a summer move to Real Madrid.

He came off the bench on Thursday as Chelsea drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

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With two games of the season left to play Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table, two points above Arsenal and three above Manchester United, who they drew 1-1 against last weekend.

A win against Watford could be enough to secure a Champions League place for next season, depending how Arsenal and United fare in their games on Sunday.

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Watford have seen their hopes of a seventh-place finish fade after a draw with Southampton and defeat to Wolves in their last two matches.

They are 10th in the table, four points behind Wolves in seventh, but also have an FA Cup final against Manchester City to look forward to on May 18.

Team news

Ruben Loftus-Cheek should be fit after being withdrawn in the latter stages of Chelsea's first-leg draw at Frankfurt.

Head coach Maurizio Sarri put that down to cramp but Chelsea will assess centre-back Gary Cahill after he missed the Frankfurt trip with an Achilles tendon problem.

Fellow defender Antonio Rudiger (knee) and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles) are long-term absentees.

Troy Deeney returns from suspension for Watford after serving a three-game ban.

Craig Cathcart will be assessed after going off with injury against Wolves last weekend, while Sebastian Prodl (knee) and Domingos Quina (shoulder) are out.

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Opta stats

• Chelsea are unbeaten in 11 home matches against Watford in all competitions (W7 D4 L0) since a 1-5 defeat on the final day of the 1985-86 season.
• Watford have taken just one point from their five away Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge against Chelsea (W0 D1 L4), drawing 2-2 on Boxing Day in 2015.
• Since their return to the Premier League in 2015, Watford have scored more Premier League goals against Chelsea than they have vs any other side (13). They have also scored more goals at Stamford Bridge (7) than any other visiting side over the past four seasons.
• Chelsea have not lost their last home league game of the season since the 2001-02 campaign (1-3 vs Aston Villa), with the Blues winning 10 and drawing six since then.
• Chelsea are winless in three Premier League games (D2 L1) - the Blues last went four without a win in May 2016 under Guus Hiddink.
• Watford are looking to win consecutive away league games for the first time since a run of three in September 2017.
• Watford have won away against Crystal Palace and West Ham in the Premier League this season - they have never won three matches in London in a single top-flight season before.

Paul Merson's prediction

I think Chelsea will win. They have to win, if they do United are out of it and that's it. If someone says you've got to beat Watford at home to get in the Champions League, you'd take that.

There's not been a lot in Watford's games recently, they're a hard team to play against but you're sitting there thinking have they got one eye on the FA Cup final?

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1

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