Watford were beaten on the opening day of the season for the first time in 13 years on Saturday when Brighton and Hove Albion comfortably scored three without reply at Vicarage Road.

Here’s how we rated their individual performances on a day to forget.

Ben Foster - 5

The veteran goalkeeper has every right to complain about his defenders selling him short throughout the match, but his distribution was far from his best and he regularly conceded possession.

He made one or two impressive stops to cut out dangerous looking crosses, but was beaten at his near post for the second goal and guilty of over-committing for the third. 

The scoreline was far from being all his fault, but he did little to help matters.

Kiko Femenia - 5 

During the start of second-half Femenia linked up nicely with Hughes during the Hornets’ most creative spell, but ultimately he struggled with Solly March throughout and looked some distance off the pace.

He wasn’t helped out a great deal by his team-mates, but really could’ve performed better.

Craig Dawson - 4

This was a home league debut to forget for the former West Brom man, who looked to have been given a rude awakening by the return to the top flight.

His partnership with Craig Cathcart is going to take some working on if Watford are to rely on it throughout this season, with both looking slow, rusty and at times simply incapable of dealing with Brighton’s attacking threat.

Craig Cathcart - 4

The Northern Irishman struggled to cope with Glenn Murray’s presence and floundered a lot at the back.

He and Dawson failed to gel together and left gaping chasmic gaps, which Brighton exploited with ease. 

Jose Holebas - 4

The Greek full-back lacked his usual tenacity and failed to produce anything of worth on the pitch.

He failed to clear the ball for the first goal, was easily beaten for the second and his set piece deliveries were uncharacteristically poor.

Will Hughes - 5

The former Derby man was arguably Watford’s best player from a bad bunch, although he still left plenty to be desired.

He lost the ball easily throughout the first-half, but rolled his socks up a bit in the second and managed to put himself at the heart of most of Watford’s rare smatterings of creativity.

That aside, it was still far from a good enough display.

Abdoulaye Doucoure - 4

After turning the ball into his own net, Doucoure never really recovered. He was second to almost every ball and his usual dominance was lacking. 

He will need to improve massively by next weekend if he wants to show the Everton supporters that they missed out by not signing him. This week, they will think they might have dodged a bullet. 

Etienne Capoue - 4

Capoue was another who put in an uncharacteristically poor performance. 

He struggled to keep up with the speed of the game and looked to be missing some of his customary sharpness.

He failed to read the game the way he ordinarily does and the Brighton midfield got the better of him throughout.

Gerard Deulofeu - 5

The Spaniard was obviously lacking a bit of match fitness. He was deployed on the left wing and failed to really make an impression. 

He had a few tricks up his sleeve as usual, and looked to be at least trying to create at times, but his end product was non-existent. 

The low point of his performance was a theatrical tumble in the penalty area following an innocuous challenge from a Brighton defender. He was substituted at half-time.

Andre Gray - 4

Gray was guilty of missing probably Watford’s best chance of the game after Femenia had battled well to win the ball back. However, he fired his shot straight at the keeper. 

He looked a frustrated figure up front and was given so little to feed off by his team-mates.

It was far from his best performance, but not entirely his fault either.

Troy Deeney - 4

The skipper looked like the proverbial bull in a china shop for the most part, charging around aimlessly and once or twice actually impeding his team-mates rather than helping them. 

As with Gray, his performance wasn’t helped by the lack of service, but he struggled to make himself a part of the game and was easily nullified by Brighton.

SUBSTITUTES

Roberto Pereyra - 4

The Argentine looked lively after coming off the bench, but quickly faded into anonymity. 

By the end of the game, he looked more tired than the defenders he was facing who’d played the whole match. 

Isaac Success - N/A 

Joined the game too late to make any real impact.