Watford v Crystal Palace
15:00
Watford slipped back into the bottom half of the table at the weekend as Sunderland condemned them to their fourth defeat in their past five games, and they must now try to separate themselves from the group of four teams between ninth and 12th on 21 points. In order to do this, they’ll have to take points off Crystal Palace at home, and after Chelsea could only put one past the Eagles last weekend, the Hornets will have to work hard to secure points on home turf.
Watford’s recent form is sufficient to give their fans and manager cause for concern: they’ve now failed to score in consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March (when they went goalless for three games in a row), and they have conceded in each of their last six after keeping three clean sheets in a row. Palace’s London derby hoodoo continued last week as they have gone W0-D2-L7 against London clubs since beating Chelsea away in August 2015 and while they go just outside London for this one, they haven’t won away in the league since September. As such, it’s hard to see them coming away from this with three points.
Watford have not won at home against Palace in their last five attempts, but they’re six points ahead of them in the table with plenty to play for. We’re reluctant to get involved in the match outcome markets in what looks a tricky game to call, but we’re confident that we’ll see both teams score.
