Manchester United vs Watford
English Premier League
Date: Saturday, 11th February 2017
Kick-Off at 15:00 UK / 16:00 CET
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester.
Manchester United managed to recover from their midweek disappointment at home to Hull on Sunday with an emphatic 3-0 win over the struggling Leicester. This extends their Premier League unbeaten run to an impressive 15 matches, but seven of those have ended all square and they have drawn three of their last four.
A huge six of these seven draws have come on home soil, with four wins making up the rest of their 11 match unbeaten run in the league at home. This leaves them just two points outside the top four in the Premier League, sitting in 6th just below Liverpool with a five point lead on Everton below them.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic found the net again last weekend against Leicester, taking his tally to 15 Premier League goals in his 23 appearances. He is undoubtedly the main goalscoring threat in this game, and even odds of 4/7 for him to score anytime look to offer some value for our goalscorer predictions.
Watford find themselves in a fairly respectable position considering their poor winter run not long ago. They are 10th in the premier League table with a comfortable looking ten point cushion over the drop zone. They are ten points off 7th placed Everton though, so there is an obvious gap opening up between the top eight and the rest of the table.
The Hornets chances of a top half finish this season have been boosted over the past couple of weeks, with a 2-1 win at home to Burnley last weekend following on from their fantastic win at The Emirates the week before.
They have now lost just one of their last six in all competitions, although they have only managed two wins from their last nine Premier League games. Away from home they have won one, drawn two, and lost five of their last eight in the league, but that 2-1 win over Arsenal will have given them a huge amount of confidence.
This is down to improvements all over the pitch for Watford, and that 6-1 hammering at the hands of Liverpool seems a very long time ago now. Since then they have only conceded more than two goals once, and three of their last five trips away have seen two or three goals scored.
This leads us to some value, as Manchester United have seen two or three scored in five of their last nine at home in the Premier League as well. With them struggling to score at home and Watford’s improved defence I think the visitors can avoid a battering again, and odds of 11/10 for Two or Three Total Goals are very good value. I’m backing this alongside a 2-0 win for Manchester United at 11/2 for my correct score predictions.
Manchester United vs Watford: Head-to-head stats
Watford ended their 8-match losing streak against Manchester United with a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture of the current season.
At Old Trafford, United have won their last three matches against Watford, with the latest two coming with clean sheets.
Eight of the last nine matches between the two sides have seen over 2.5 goals.
Manchester United vs Watford: Prediction
There are no doubts that Manchester United are heavy favourites to win this one. But the United win is priced at the short odds of 1.30, which offers little merit for our investment. So, the better option lies in over 2.5 match goals as 8 of the last 9 meetings between the two has seen the same.
The first half is expected to be eventful and we expected to see one of the teams go into the break with a 1-0 goal. The HT double chance for either sides to win is an alternate option for this match. The brave punters can opt for correct half-time score of 1-0 in favour of Manchester United at the odds of 3.00.
Manchester United vs Watford: Betting Tips
Over 2.5 Match goals at 1.70 (7/10)
First Half Double Chance – Man Utd or Watford at 1.40 (2/5).
