The opening weekend of the season is meant to be a time of universal optimism, when fans can bask in the sunshine and dream about a campaign which is yet to take shape. This game was set to a backdrop of spitting drizzle and granite skies, a cold dose of reality before a ball had even been kicked.
Both Watford and QPR arrived at Vicarage Road in a fog of unknowns, with fans having good reason to be cautious with their expectations. After another underwhelming season of managerial Russian roulette and a summer which marked the departures of João Pedro and Ismaïla Sarr, two of their best performers, the hosts were hoping for a new dawn under Valérien Ismaël.
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