Swansea vs Watford
English Premier League, Season 2017/18
Date: Saturday, 23rd September 2017
Kick-off at 15:00 UK/ 16:00 CET
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea.
There was a lot of doubt over Swansea’s ability to remain in the Premier League at the start of the season, and their seeming lack of transfer activity and poor start to the campaign did little to dispel the discontent among the fans.
To be fair, they did manage a draw away to Southampton in their opener before getting turned over against Manchester United, but their lack of goals was the big worry. This became an even bigger problem when Gylfi Sigurdsson finally left, and he was followed out of the door by Fernando Llorente. Fortunately they did manage to bring old crowd favourite Wilfried Bony back to the Liberty Stadium though, and added to their midfield with the shock loan signing of Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich.
This all came a few days after they picked up their first win of the league campaign, beating the dismally out of form Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. However, they followed this upturn in fortunes with a disappointing 1-0 loss at home to Newcastle. They held firm away to Spurs last weekend, but their problem seems to lie with their form at home.
Watford are seeing the same phenomenon as well. They have failed to win any of their four home games in all competitions. Admittedly two of these were against Liverpool and Manchester City, the former of which ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw and the latter seeing them ship six goals last weekend.
On the road, however, The Hornets have beaten both Bournemouth and Southampton comfortably and look a much better side. This, plus the fact that their early League Cup exit afforded them a midweek break, gives them a real advantage coming into this game.
Despite this, the hosts are favourites to get the win on Saturday. Given Watford’s midweek rest and their away form this season, I think they’re great value at 21/10 for the win, and considering they are yet to concede away from home and Swansea haven’t scored a league goal at the Liberty Stadium, backing Watford to Win to Nil at 9/2 looks incredibly good value. We’re going for those alongside another 2-0 win for The Hornets at 16/1.
Swansea vs Watford: Head-to-head
The last four Premier League meetings between the sides were too close to call and only produced 3 goals in total. One has been a goal-less draw with the remaining three won by home side by a 1-0 margin, Watford twice and Swansea once.
Swansea vs Watford: Prediction
It is quite hard to separate them on paper, if you compare the team man to man. But Watford’s performance so far in the current campaign has been encouraging. While, Swansea’s is on the opposite side.
The head-to-head comparison clearly suggest that we are in for a cagey affair. None of the last five meetings between the sides at the Liberty Stadium saw more than 2 goals. Therefore, we must back under 2.5 goal markets for this fixture.
Swansea vs Watford: Bet Tips
Primary pick for this game is Under 2.5 goals for 1.76 odds with Unibet.
FT Result in a Draw for 3.35 with Unibet.
Correct Score Prediction: 1-1 for 7.00 odds with William Hill.
