After 2 remarkable victories, Watford travelled to Anfield, where they were put to the test against Liverpool, who humiliated them in a 5:0 match. Now, they will look to bounce back from the disastrous result against Leicester who travel to Vicarage Road on Sunday in hopes to add their 2nd win in a row after a rare 2:1 win over Brighton.
Watford City are coming into this match after a string of successful matches, which ended with a disastrous 5:0 defeat against the league leaders Liverpool on Wednesday. Prior to that, Watford managed to defeat Everton (1:0) and Cardiff (1:5) in what seemed to be a promising result prior to the clash against the Reds. Nonetheless, Watford are having a good campaign this season, and despite some bad runs along the way, they still, managed to climb to the 8th spot in the league, where they sit 13 points behind Chelsea at 6th place. Looking at Watford recent performances, they do not look that bad, with an 8-4-3 record in their last 15 matches in all competitions. The only 3 teams that managed to defeat them were the top English teams Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.
On the other side, we have Leicester City who have not been too good this season. As it stands now, Leicester are 11th in the league with a poor record behind them. Prior to the win against Brighton (2:1) on Tuesday, Leicester were on a 3 game losing streak, which is only a tip of the iceberg of their 3-1-6 record in the last 10 league matches. If we disregard the recent win against Brighton, Leicester are without a win in the last 7 games, losing 6 of them. I could go on and count all their defeats, but let’s keep it short and state the obvious. Leicester have not been performing up to par. What is even more, worrying for Leicester heading into the next fixture is their away record, where their defence failed to perform on numerous occasions, conceding 8 goals in the span of 5 games. To be fair their defence problems stretch much further back, as they have not had a clean sheet in an away game since January. However, there is a bright spot for Leicester, who have appointed a new manager in Brendan Rodgers from Celtics, who is expected to lift the team from the pit of bad results. The match against Watford will be his first official match as the head coach. Heading into this match Watford might miss Britos and Femenia who are both doubtful. On the other side, Leicester will be without injured Amartey and Albrighton, while Chilwell is still questionable.
Leicester poor away record will be put to the test today when they face off against Watford, who have not lost a home match in the last 3 and only lost once against Chelsea in the last 5 home matches. Disregarding the Chelsea match, Watford had a strong defence at home, where they conceded only 1 goal in the last 3 matches and kept a clean sheet in the last 2 against Burnley and Everton, who both scored at least a goal in their last 5 away games. While Watford managed to grab 5 points in the last 3 home games, they do not look too promising. I’m a bit concerned about Watford’s frontline, who is not known to produce many goals. That might be a problem if Leicester scores first, as Watford will not be able to get back into the game. In addition, Leicester will come into this match with Brendan Rodgers as their newly appointed coach, so I expect them to show him what they’re capable of. Taking all into consideration, I believe Leicester have a good chance to redeem themselves with a win against Watford.
Prediction: Leicester +0.00 Asian Handicap
Odds: 2.02 Pinnacle
