A couple of points less, same number of goals scored, three places lower in the league table – but how do the first 16 games of this season compare to the same period last term?

What this graphic, kindly supplied by @louorns, clearly underlines is that Watford have become a team that plays possession football and passes the ball more under Valerien Ismael than it did in the first third of last season.

Watford’s average possession is the fourth highest in the division, bettered only by Leicester, Southampton and Sunderland.

The Hornets have made almost 20% more passes this season, and they’re more accurate with them too, as the 81% success rate shows.

There has been a near 25% increase in touches of the ball inside the box as well in the first 16 games of the season.

But while Watford are currently second in the league when it comes to passes and touches in the final third, that in itself brings into question the efficacy of their work in and around the opposition box.

The problem is considerably worse away from home – only two teams in the Championship have scored fewer goals on their travels than the five Watford have mustered.

Yet at home, only Ipswich and Plymouth have bettered Watford’s 18 goals, though they have played a home game more than most and 10 of them came in wins over the bottom three.

There has been an uplift of 38% in progressive passes this season – but while Watford are getting the ball forward more, their rate of doing so is one of the slowest in the division, explaining why their style can sometimes look over-deliberate and laboured.

A 25% higher shots tally this season of 223 once again brings into focus the Hornets' work in front of goal, but that is offset by them giving up only 152 shots at the other end: 20% less than at this stage a season ago.

Watford have conceded two fewer goals than in the first 16 games of last season, and they’ve kept seven clean sheets so far this term compared to five at the same point 12 months ago.