Chelsea vs. Watford, Premier League: Team news; Preview; How to watch, stream

Boxing Day.  One more Christmas box to open.  Hopefully it'll contain three Chelsea points.

After many months, we finally played our last desperate ace in the hole, axing Mourinho and brining in the Fixer.  Or at least we hope Hiddink has some magic left after all those miles he's put in during his (almost) 30 years in management.  We probably don't need too much magic; though that probability relies on the squad finding some semblance of the quality that brought us the title last season.

This festive period is most likely our very last chance to truly restart the league campaign.  Three wins from the three matches this week — Watford (h), Manchester United (a), Crystal Palace (a) — and we're solidly back in mid-table with designs on putting pressure on the top ... four? six?  It's highly congested up there, anything can happen.

These three fixtures do look daunting.  But that'll make it all the more significant when we collect 9 points from 9.  So, first things first, taking care of upstarts Watford.

Date/Time: Saturday, December 26, 2015, 15:00 GMT; 10:00 EST; 20:30 IST

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Andre Marriner — Luckily, we don't have any two players that resemble each other.

Forecast: Temperatures remain "very mild". Otherwise, cloudy and mainly dry, with strong Southwesterly winds.

On TV: none (UK); USA Network (USA); Star Sports 4 / HD 4 (India); elsewhere

Streaming Online: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA); Chelsea TV, TalkSport (Radio int'l); Star Sports (India)

Chelsea team news: New-ish (interim) manager, Guus Hiddink, addressed the media as Chelsea boss for the (second) first time on Wednesday, stating that he's here but technically, shouldn't be.  A bit like Chelsea's league position then.

As far as injuries are concerned, Eden Hazard, who apparently trained on Wednesday for the first time since suffering his hip injury, is the only doubt ahead of the match.

Chelsea have lost only 3 of the last 9 — "only" — unfortunately all three were in the Premier League.  And only in one of those were Chelsea truly outplayed, the 2-1 defeat by league leaders Leicester City.  So things are improving, new manager or not.  Hopefully that trend continues against high-flying Watford.

Watford team news: The Hornets will be without long term absentee Joel Ekstrand (knee) and Sebastian Prodl (calf). In addition, Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake, who has made the left-back spot his own in recent months, will be ineligible to play as per the terms of his standard loan contract.

Watford have won four in a row and would be the talk of the Premier League as the most surprising team of the year, were it not for Leicester City.  For more on their Cinderella season, be sure to check out our opposition analysis.

Previously: The last time we faced Watford was in last season's FA Cup, that match also coming after traumatic events (the 5-3 at White Hart Lane).