Watford vs Crystal Palace: Troy Deeney and Co. deal with Wilfried Zaha by ‘taking it in turns kicking him’

Watford vs Crystal Palace: Troy Deeney and Co. deal with Wilfried Zaha by ‘taking it in turns kicking him’
Watford may return to tactics they have used previously against Wilfried Zaha when Crystal Palace visit Vicarage Road in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.The quarter-final clash – which you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT – pits the two Premier League sides against one another in a battle for a spot in the Wembley semi-finals.2

Palace beat Watford in the FA Cup semi-finals three years ago

The Hornets have twice beaten Palace this season already, triumphing 2-1 both home and away.And after the first encounter, which took place at Vicarage Road in the early weeks of the season, Watford skipper Troy Deeney revealed how he and his team-mates nullify Wilfried Zaha.Zaha is widely considered one of the best players outside the Premier League’s top six, and he has the ability to single-handedly guide Palace to victory.So, how do Watford make sure the Ivory Coast forward never gets going against them? The answer is to KICK Zaha, according to Deeney.“You take it in turns kicking him,” Deeney said. “I know no one wants to hear that, but you go; ‘You hit this time, you hit him the next time’, you don’t have the same player tackle him because you know you’re gonna get booked.'”Zaha was on the end of a series of questionable challenges when Watford beat Palace 2-1 at Vicarage Road last August, including one from Etienne Capoue, who appeared to strike his boot down the forward’s Achilles.And Zaha voiced his outrage after experiencing similar treatment in a match against Huddersfield towards the end of last year, saying he feared for his safety unless referees protected him more.He said: “I know that for a fact [opponents are out there to hurt me] but I just don’t know what to do anymore.

LIVE on talkSPORT

There are seven live commentaries remaining across the talkSPORT network this week. Find out what they are and when you can hear them, below...

• Watford vs Crystal Palace (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Leeds vs Sheffield United (Saturday) talkSPORT 2
• West Ham vs Huddersfield (Saturday) talkSPORT 2
• Swansea vs Manchester City (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Wolves vs Manchester United (Saturday) talkSPORT
• Millwall vs Brighton (Sunday) talkSPORT 2
• Fulham vs Liverpool (Sunday) talkSPORT

“I end up arguing with referees because today the guy studded me in my shin – do they need to break my leg before anyone gets a red card?”However, Zaha has also been accused of diving in the past and Deeney believes he can use the Crystal Palace forward’s words against him in order to get into the referee’s head.Deeney continued: “You can flip it and start being more psychological with the referees.“If we were playing him this week and he’d just said those comments I’d have been like: ‘Ref, don’t you be the first one to give him a pen. Don’t you start going easy on him.'”2

Deeney says Zaha is targeted by Watford’s players

‘You want to say to him (the ref) in that little meeting we have an hour and a half before kick-off; “Do you want to be the first one to give him a penalty for diving?”‘Zaha actually scored in the match at Vicarage Road, despite the rough treatment he was receiving, but Watford’s approach kept the winger quiet when they won 2-1 at Selhurst Park earlier this year.And the Hornets faithful will hope for more of the same when Zaha and and his team-mates rock up in Hertfordshire on Saturday afternoon, with Watford hoping to reach only the sixth FA Cup semi-final in their history.

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