Charlton Athletic's August opposition under the microscope - including fixture difficulty ratings

Expert insight into the upcoming clashes against Watford, Bristol City, Leicester City and QPR

Just four more sleeps….

Charlton Athletic’s first month in the Championship sees them take on four clubs that have all had managerial changes since the end of last season.

Here we take a look in more depth at the opposition in August, including speaking to the reporters covering those teams to get the lowdown on their biggest attacking threat, the player tipped to be the next top talent as well as an overview of what kind of shape they are in ahead of England’s second tier kicking off on Friday evening.

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Kwadwo Baah, a former Crystal Palace ball boy, is an exciting talent for Watford

Picture: Getty

AUGUST 9TH

WATFORD H (12.30pm)

Last season’s league position: 14th

Last season’s top scorer: Vakoun Bayo (10 goals all competitions)

Significant transfers in: Nestory Irankunda (Bayern Munich), Othamane Maamma (Montpellier), Marc Bola (Samsunspor, free), Nathan Baxter (Bolton Wanderers, free), Hector Kyprianou (Peterborough), Vivaldo Semedo (Udinese), Luca Kjerrumgaard (Udinese), James Abankwaah (Udinese), Caleb Wiley (Chelsea)

Significant transfers out: Mileta Rajovic (Legia Warsaw), Francisco Sierralta (Auxerre), Ryan Porteous (Los Angeles FC), Angelo Ogbonna (released)

ADAM DRURY - WATFORD OBSERVER

The boss:

Paulo Pezzolano.

He was hired by Ronaldo at Cruzeiro and took them into the top tier in Brazil. Ronaldo then bought Real Valladolid and hired him there, as well. Pezzolano did the same job there, winning promotion back to the top flight in La Liga in the 2023-24 season. They started the following season horribly and he ended up leaving in November.