Watford vs Liverpool - Premier League Preview and Odds

Published on: 09/08/2017

Watford vs Liverpool - Premier League Preview and Odds

August 12, 2017 12:30pm - Vicarage Road

Premier League

After losing the last six games of last season, Watford will be hoping to halt that run under the guidance of new boss Marco Silva. The Portuguese boss has been drafted in as a replacement for Walter Mazzarri after impressing during his short spell in charge of Hull City. The Tigers were ultimately relegated but they showed significant improvement under Silva before a defensive injury crisis prompted a late season collapse.

The Hornets kept four clean sheets in their last four pre-season matches including a 1-0 win against La Liga side Eibar. They come into this game on the back of a 0-0 draw against another top flight Spanish side Real Sociedad.

New recruits include striker Richarlison, who has been drafted in from Fluminense, midfielder Tom Cleverley, who arrives from Everton and Will Hughes who has made the switch from Derby County. Nathanial Chalobah has been brought in from Chelsea to shore up the defensive midfield area, while former Alaves man Kiko Femenia gives another option in the right-back position.

Meanwhile, this is exactly the type of game that Liverpool will be looking to improve in this term. While they excelled against the top sides last term, Klopp`s men often failed to perform against the smaller sides such as Watford. In fact they were undone 2-0 by Marco Silva`s Hull City last season and will be expecting another tough encounter here.

With Phillipe Coutinho`s future still in doubt and a back injury likely to keep him out this weekend, and Adam Lallana also out injured, the Reds will be hoping that new signings Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke can hit the ground running this weekend.

Recent form (all competitions)

Watford: DDWWL

Liverpool: WLWWW

Betting odds and tips

Liverpool will have their work cut out but they had a strong pre-season and will arrive here full of confidence. Even without Coutinho and Lallana, they stand a great chance of kicking their season off with an away win. With a stable squad and a top class coach getting stuck into his second full season in charge, they can be expected to improve against the weaker sides, starting this weekend

You can back Liverpool to win at 8/15 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris