Watford manager Javi Gracia is remaining calm over the shortage of goals from recognised strikers as he looks to make it back-to-back wins when his side face West Ham.

The Hornets ended a six-game winless streak by overcoming Cardiff 3-2 at Vicarage Road, but Troy Deeney continued his personal barren run against the Bluebirds.

Gerard Deulofeu, Jose Holebas and Domingos Quina all scored, and Gracia believes it not just the role of the forwards to get on the scoresheet.

Ahead of the visit to the London Stadium, the Spaniard said: "It's good for the team to choose different ways to score and not only depend on the strikers because sometimes all the players have to score, including wingers, midfielders, defenders, like Jose (Holebas) in the last game, and I think it's good for the team.

"I'm not worried about whether or not our strikers are scoring more goals because we create more chances in every game. More than the other teams I think. One day one player will score, another day someone else will score. It's not a problem for me."

West Ham will be looking to make it five Premier League wins on the trot for the first time since 2006.

"The most important thing is to be in the top six at the end of the season," said Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini.

"There are still 21 games to go. We are in a good moment now so we must try to take it game by game and add points."

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Team news

West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic could be back in training next week, but the visit of Watford will come too soon.

The Austrian. who has scored five goals this season, suffered a hamstring injury against Cardiff on December 4 and was expected to be sidelined until well into the new year.

But Pellegrini revealed Arnautovic is ahead of schedule, meaning he could even be involved in the squad against Southampton on December 27 and Burnley three days later.

Lucas Perez (foot) will be assessed but Jack Wilshere, Ryan Fredericks (both ankle), Andriy Yarmolenko (Achilles), Carlos Sanchez (knee), Winston Reid (knee) and Manuel Lanzini (ACL) remain long-term absentees.

Gracia will continue to be without Andre Gray, Will Hughes, Adalberto Penaranda and Sebastian Prodl, all sidelined through injury, but Etienne Capoue is available against after suspension.

Opta stats

• West Ham have lost two of their last five home league encounters with Watford (W2 D1), this after losing just one of their first 14 such meetings (W12 D1 L1).
• Watford have won four of their last seven Premier League games against West Ham (D1 L2), winning twice away from home in this run (1-0 in Feb 2007 and 4-2 in Sept 2016).
• West Ham are looking to win five Premier League games in a row for the first time since February 2006 under Alan Pardew.
• West Ham are looking to win three consecutive Premier League games at the London Stadium for the very first time.
• At home, West Ham have won four of their last six Premier League games (L2), scoring at least three goals in each victory and failing to score in the other two.
• Watford have picked up just 10 points from their last 60 available away from home in the Premier League (W2 D4 L14).
• Watford haven't kept a clean sheet in any of their last seven Premier League games, conceding at least twice in each of the last five.

Merson's prediction

West Ham have turned the corner, and are playing with a lot of confidence. They've got some good players, have a nice run of games and are punishing teams. They look like they've got a bit of a swagger.

They've got goals in them, that's what I like, and they're becoming hard to break down too. Watford returned to form with a much-needed victory over Cardiff on Saturday, but I'm going for West Ham.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (16/1 with Sky Bet)

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