How did the Hornets fare as Watford picked up a thoroughly deserved goalless draw with Chelsea?

The Golden Boys enjoyed the better of the first half before the visitors piled on the pressure in the second.

A draw was a fair result in the end but how did the Hornets fare against Guus Hiddink's side?

Heurelho Gomes – 8: This was one of the goalkeeper’s quieter games for a good hour as Watford took charge of proceedings.

He came to his side’s rescue in the second half, though, somehow pushing Branislav Ivanovic’s first-time shot around the post from close range.

Better followed when he clawed away Diego Costa’s deflected header at the death. 

Juan Carlos Paredes – 6.5: The energetic full-back improved on the defensive side from his last outing against Newcastle United and did so without sacrificing too much of his attacking threat.

Paredes limited the threat of Oscar and refused to be pinned in by the Brazilian wideman while getting under Diego Costa’s skin – how hard is that, though? – by having the temerity to give the volatile striker a taste of his own medicine.

He was caught out of position on a couple of occasions, however, most notably at the beginning of the second half when he got out of trouble by using his pace to recover.

​Sebastian Prodl – 7.5: The giant centre-back was named in the starting XI for a Premier League fixture for the first time since the debacle at Southampton last month and will have given Flores a the clichéd “good headache to have” with this showing.

How long illness will rule Miguel Britos out for remains to be seen. But what is clear is Prodl was excellent here and got in the way of everything Chelsea threw at Watford. At the same time he marshalled the increasingly irate Costa.

Britos has been impeccable since he was brought into the starting XI but has a worthy adversary in the Austrian.

Craig Cathcart – 7: A couple of misplaced passes aside the Ulsterman was as dependable as ever throughout and assisted Sebastian Prodl in limiting the impact of Costa.

An excellent sliding block to prevent Costa’s first-half shot troubling Gomes was undone when he was spun by the Chelsea striker who saw his effort flash just wide for a corner.

He was again required to block Costa’s route to goal at the start of the second half and held firm throughout as the visitors finally asserted themselves on the Hornets.

Jose Holebas – 7: Another solid display from the left-back who contained Chelsea’s Player of the Season elect, Willian, in the absence of the ineligible Nathan Ake.

He was perhaps unable to get forward as often as usual thanks to the workaholic Brazilian winger but, on one of the occasions he did, it was his pin-point cross from which Odion Ighalo failed to nod beyond Thibaut Courtois.

Etienne Capoue – 6: The Frenchman frequently squandered possession in the second half in one of his poorer games for the Hornets.

He did, however, cover virtually every blade of grass and worked tirelessly to cover Juan Carlos Paredes as well as helping out his midfield colleagues.

Capoue came as close to scoring for the Hornets as anyone but his rasping drive in the first half was pushed away by Courtois.

Replaced after 86 minutes.

Ben Watson – 7: The midfielder rarely gets the credit he deserves but again scuttled back and forth breaking up play and laying off simple passes to the more creative players around him.

Few would have envisioned the former Wigan Athletic midfielder becoming such a key component in Flores’ midfield, yet he has.

Even with the arrival of the Spaniard’s former Atletico Madrid lieutenant in Mario Suarez, Watson will not automatically be the one to give way.

Valon Behrami – 6.5: The Swiss enforcer was made for a game like this where closing down the opponent who would expect to see more of the ball was the order of the day.

He battled away down the left-hand side of the midfield three and was always alert enough to drop into a gap where required a cover a teammate out of position – something he did on more than one occasion for Jose Holebas when he ventured up the left.

One particularly careless lapse in concentration saw him lose possession in Watford’s half during the first period but he was bailed out. It is that sharpness on the ball he sometimes lacks.

Jose Manuel Jurado – 7.5: The diminutive playmaker was again impressive in his preferred number ten role, getting on the ball and providing the link between midfield and attack while also popping up down both flanks.

Saw a soft penalty appeal rightly turned away by Mike Dean after he went down when brushed by Nemanja Matic. He had other options to his right and it was a rare occasion where the Spaniard didn’t make the right decision in possession.

An inch-perfect lay-off for Etienne Capoue to blast at Courtois encapsulated the best of his display though.

Replaced after 63 minutes by Almen Abdi.

Troy Deeney – 7: The captain only really had one sight of goal but very nearly set Courtois scrambling with an audacious first-time volley after the ball fell temptingly for him just outside the area.

Deeney battled away against John Terry and Kurt Zouma and, like Ighalo alongside him, gave the Blues' backline more than one uncomfortable moment.

Odion Ighalo – 7: The Hornets’ top scorer really ought to have won this encounter for his side. But, with Watford’s best chance of the game, he could only nod down into the ground after outjumping the Chelsea defence to meet Holebas’ tantalising cross after 25 minutes.

On a couple of occasions – and not for the first time – he was selfish in front of goal, not laying the ball off for those around him when they were in better positions and instead opting to take the shot on himself or hold possession before being crowded out.

He worked hard to put pressure on Chelsea’s back four, though, and combined well with strike partner Troy Deeney.

Substitutes

Almen Abdi (for Jose Manuel Jurado 63) – 5: Brought on in what is his natural position – behind the striker – the Swiss maestro struggled to really get into the game in an attacking sense but largely because Chelsea were on top by that point.

Allan Nyom (for Juan Carlos Paredes 67) – 6: Would have felt his luck was very much out when, minutes after his own introduction from the bench, Guus Hiddink sent for Eden Hazard.

However, the Belgian attacker got little change out of Nyom – apart from when the Cameroonian failed to prod the ball to safety as the ball was worked across from the right. Gomes came to his rescue, thankfully.

Mario Suarez (on for Etienne Capoue 83) – N/A: Given a token handful of minutes to make his Watford debut.