English Premier
2020-02-08 - Brighton vs Watford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 8th February 2020 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV
Brighton
The improved football being played by Brighton will make the fans happy, but Graham Potter and the club will only be content if they can avoid the drop into the Championship. Last weekend they showed the belief when fighting back and earning a 3-3 draw at West Ham United, but Potter will be looking for a bit more when hosting one of the small set of teams sitting below Brighton in the League table.
Things would have looked much different for Brighton if they had been beaten by West Ham United last weekend, but the draw means they are 15th in the Premier League table and 3 points clear of Watford in 19th place. The Seagulls have a 4-5-3 record at the Amex Stadium where they have scored 16 goals and conceded 13 in those games.
Brighton have not won any of their last 6 games in all competitions, while they have not made as much out of the fixture list as they would have liked. This is the fourth game in a row Brighton will play a team below them in the League table, but so far they only have draws with Aston Villa and West Ham United and a defeat to Bournemouth to show. The Seagulls have won 1 of their last 7 at home in all competitions.
Dan Burn and Shane Duffy are both hoping to return to the squad for this fixture.
Watford
Nigel Pearson has given his Watford team some life having taken over a team that looked to be cut off at the bottom of the table, but the last couple of Premier League results have been difficult to take. With games running down Watford can't afford to allow more points to slip as they have in their last couple of fixtures and this is a very big game for them this weekend.
They were left in 19th place in the Premier League table after blowing the 2-0 lead over Everton last weekend and Watford are 2 points behind Aston Villa outside of the relegation zone. The Hornets have a 2-3-7 record away from home having scored 10 goals and conceded 22 in those fixtures.
Watford have not won any of their last 4 games in all competitions which includes a FA Cup exit at League One Tranmere Rovers. They have lost back to back Premier League games to Aston Villa and Everton, but Watford had drawn at Sheffield United and won at Bournemouth before the defeat at Villa Park.
Craig Dawson and Kiko Femenia are expected to miss out. The likes of Tom Cleverley, Nathanial Chalobah and Ismaila Sarr are doubtful.
Head to Head
Brighton embarrassed Watford with a 0-3 win at Vicarage Road on the opening weekend of the season.
Since being promoted into the Premier League, Brighton have beaten Watford 1-0 and then drawn 0-0.
Prediction
It might be too early to describe this a 'relegation six pointer', but there is no doubting the importance of this Premier League fixture between Brighton and Watford.
Just 3 points separate Brighton in 15th place and Watford in 19th place so there is no doubt the outcome of the fixture is going to have a big impact in how these teams will go into the remainder of the season.
A Brighton win will certainly make them feel they are well on the way to safety, but a Watford victory drags a number of clubs back towards the relegation fight so there will be plenty of eyes on this one.
Brighton have been playing well, but they have looked very poor defensively which has been exploited by clubs. Conceding three times to both Bournemouth and West Ham United underlines the point, although both were played away from the Amex Stadium.
The one theme that continues to be displayed is that Brighton are likely to concede goals, but they create enough chances to hurt teams too.
This weekend they host a Watford team who might be regretting recent dropped points- Nigel Pearson's men missed a penalty in the goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur and had a 0-1 lead at Aston Villa and 2-0 lead over Everton but lost both of those games.
In the main the manager has to be happy with the reaction of his players to his voice since coming in, but Pearson will also recognise how important those dropped points could be. I don't think he will change his style where Watford have been creating chances and scoring goals, but they have struggled defensively despite having a goalkeeper like Ben Foster between the sticks and like Brighton they look like a team that will score and concede goals.
A draw might not be the worst result for either team in the bigger picture, but I don't think either Graham Potter nor Nigel Pearson would take that before a ball has been kicked. With that in mind I am expecting to see an attacking game and the teams pushing forward which could see them combine for three or more goals.
In recent seasons this has not been a fixture which has been very high-scoring, but Brighton scored three earlier this season and I am going to back at least three goals to be shared out here with my expectation being that both score at least once.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Brighton 1-2 Watford
