Premier League preview and odds: Watford vs. Manchester United

Published on: 17/11/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Watford vs. Manchester United

November 21, 2015 12:45pm - Vicarage Road

Premier League

The Barclays Premier League is back this weekend and the action gets underway on Saturday lunchtime as surprise package Watford welcome top-four hopefuls Manchester United to Vicarage Road.

Watford with balanced record

Watford are currently the most symmetrical team in the Premier League. With a home record that reads W2 D2 L2, with 3 goals scored and 4 against and an away record that reads W2 D2 L2, with 8 goals for and 8 against, the Hornets overall form for the season stands at W4 D4 L4 with a goal record of F11 A12. Just a home goal away from a perfectly-balanced set of statistics.

That symmetry will be broken this weekend when they resume their Premier League campaign against one of the giants of English football. They come into this match on the back of a 2-1 away defeat to fellow over-achievers Leicester City at the King Power stadium. Quique Sanchez Flores men continue to defy the critics who had Watford marked as prime relegation candidates before the season began.

In their last home game, the Hornets trebled their home goal-scoring tally by disposing of high-flying West Ham by two goals to nil thanks to a brace from top scorer Odion Ighalo. They currently sit in 11th place in the table, eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Top opportunity for United

Like Watford, Manchester United have won just two of their last five Premier League games. However, they are still just two points behind the leaders and are currently sat in fourth place. A win at Vicarage Road would put them in temporary charge at the top of the table prior to the other kick-offs.

In their last away game, they were lucky to hang on for a 0-0 draw against a determined Crystal Palace side. They followed that up with a comfortable home win against West Bromwich Albion that kept them three points clear of the chasing pack.

Despite some lacklustre performances, the Red Devils have kept pace with their more dynamic rivals, Manchester City and Arsenal. The brand of football currently being deployed by Louis van Gaals men may not be pleasing on the eye but is proving to be effective. In fact, they have conceded fewer goals than any other team. However, there are seven teams in the league that have score more goals and that is the main area of concern for the 20-time league champions.

Team news

Watford are hoping that Jose Manual Jurado will be available for selection after his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, United could welcome back Antonio Valencia but Luke Shaw and James Wilson remained side-lined.

Recent form (League)

Watford: LWWLD

Manchester United: WDDWL

Betting odds and tips

This will not be an easy game for United Watford have only conceded four goals at home all season and three of those came in the game against Arsenal. Only one of Watfords home games has produced more than 2 goals this season, so another low-scoring encounter can be expected.

The draw looks like a good bet at 12/5 with Bet365 with Under 2.5 Goals available at 6/10 with Coral. A correct score of 1-1 can be backed at 13/2 with Betvictor while Ighalo can be backed to score anytime at 3/1 with Bet365.

Published on: 17/11/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (17/11/2015 13:15:47) but are subject to change.