Watford v Swansea City- Match preview and odds

15:00 pm - Vicarage Road

Watford may have been many pundits pre-season favourite for the drop, but they have shown with their performances so far that they have no intention of being this season’s Premier League whipping boys.

In need of a win

With three draws to their name so far, they are already showing the kind of resilience that will be needed if they are to retain their top flight status. Even in the 2-0 defeat to league leaders Manchester City they were by no means humiliated and remained competitive throughout.

Despite their decent showing, the Hornets will need to turn a few of those draws into victories if they are going to remain clear of the danger zone. This weekend they welcome a Swansea team that sits fourth in the table having yet to lose a game. Coach Quique Sánchez Flores has plenty of experience and will be well aware of the task on hand this weekend. Garry Monk’s team have been in superb form and entered the international break on the back of a confidence-boosting 2-1 win against Manchester United.

Swansea’s deadly strike force

Watford’s defenders will have to deal with the double threat of André Ayew and Bafétimbi Gomis who have already scored seven goals between them this season, including one each in the game against Man United.

Watford firing blanks

As well as having the difficult task of keeping a clean sheet, the Hornets will also be hoping that their own strikers can start finding the net. Since their opening day draw against Everton at Goodson in which they scored twice, they have failed to score a single goal. One of the goal scorers from that day, Miguel Layún has since left on loan to Porto leaving Odion Ighalo as the only player to have found the net.

Having secured the services of three more players on transfer deadline day, Watford will be hoping that the goal drought will soon be over. The most significant signing could be that of midfielder Adlène Guedioura who played a big part in their promotion campaign while on loan from Crystal Palace last season. He will be tasked with providing service to loan-signing Victor Ibarbo who arrived from Cagliari before the window closed. Unfortunately Ibarbo will miss the Swansea game thanks to a visa issue.

The third arrival was the highly-rated 19-year-old Belgian striker Obbi Oularé who was drafted in from Club Brugge for a fee believed to be close to €10m. Although he is definitely one for the future, he could still have a big part to play this season.

Betting odds and tips

With Swansea in such great form, the 9/5 available at Betvictor for an away win looks like good value. However, Watford have shown that they do not roll over easily, and this could be the first game where their deadline-day signings get a chance to make an impression. As a result, the draw could be an even better bet at 12/5 with betfred.

With Gomis currently on a goal game for the season, the 15/8 price on offer from bet365 in the Anytime Goal Scorer market looks like a fairly decent bet.

Another tempting price is the 9/1 on offer from Boylesport for Obbi Oularé to score the in the first goal. With Ibarbo missing due to a visa problem, the Belgian player may be handed his first start for this game.

Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (12/09/2015) but are subject to change.

12/09/2015     © Frixo 2024