TEAM NEWS

Eden Hazard could return from a hip injury against Watford in Chelsea's first outing under new interim manager Guus Hiddink.

The Blues midfielder missed last weekend's 3-1 win over Sunderland.

Nathan Ake, on loan at Watford from Chelsea, is ineligible against his parent club so Ikechi Anya may return.

The Hornets will be without fellow defenders Tommie Hoban and Joel Ekstrand, who have groin and knee injuries respectively.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

John Motson: "I'll be interested to see how the Chelsea crowd react to the new manager and particularly the players.

"They gave certain players a tough reception last weekend but I don't expect the atmosphere to be as toxic. Oscar produced his best display of the season against Sunderland and Guus Hiddink will be hoping to get Diego Costa scoring again.

"Talking of goals, Watford are not struggling to find the back of the net.

"They've surprised plenty of teams this season already, in part due to their willingness to play two strikers. Perhaps the bookies will get a Boxing Day shock too - some have Watford at 7-1 to win on Saturday."

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink: "Yesterday I spoke fully to the squad and of course we talked a bit about the past: why I'm here, the reasons why we are down.

"We cannot ignore what has happened in the recent past, but I asked them and told them to look in the mirror and be hypercritical and give the best for the team.

"They have to look forward. There must be a great desire to play, yes? If you don't have that desire, please knock on my door and we'll talk - we'll talk briefly."

Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores: "It's tougher when a team have changed the manager. The team know that they need to show for the new manager. But we are ready for the experience.

"They play well and they have lots of experience and quality. We are expecting a very tough match.

"I had Guus for three years as a coach. I have a very good relationship with him, he is a very nice man.

"He's always thinking about the ball, about possession. He's worried about the players feeling free. It was 21 years ago - but things change."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

I thought the performance of the Chelsea players in the 3-1 home win against Sunderland last weekend was despicable. Why couldn't they produce that under Jose Mourinho?

I saw Watford in the first game of the season at Everton - I thought they were just a counter-attacking team who would get more points away than at home. But now it is getting much closer after three wins in their past four home matches.

Lawro's full predictions v SAM the super-computer

• Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• The aggregate scoreline in the last four meetings at Stamford Bridge is 16-0 to Chelsea.
• Three of those four games were in the FA Cup, with the Blues most recently winning 3-0 in the third round in January.

Chelsea

• Chelsea have not lost on Boxing Day in 10 matches since 2003 (W6, D4).
• In his previous tenure as manager of Chelsea, Guus Hiddink lost just once in all competitions (W16, D5, L1).
• Hiddink has the best win ratio of managers to have taken charge of four or more Premier League games (84.6%).
• Only Aston Villa and West Brom have lost more home league games this season than Chelsea's four.

Watford

• Watford have won four consecutive top-flight games for the first time since April 1987.
• They have won - and kept a clean sheet - in three of their last four home league games.
• The Hornets have won six of their last eight league matches.
• They are currently third in the Premier League form table behind Leicester City and Crystal Palace.
• Odion Ighalo has scored in four successive Premier League appearances, equalling Troy Deeney's club record set earlier this season.
• Ighalo has scored 28 league goals in 2015, more than any other player in England's top four divisions.