Eng. Championship
2011-08-06 - Burnley vs Watford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Saturday 6 August 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Burnley
The appointment of Eddie Howe as manager last season was seen as an inspired move for Burnley and I think we could see an improvement on last seasons 8th placed finish now that Howe has had a full pre-season to inject his ideas into his squad.
There has been a bit of movement in the squad over the Summer with the likes of Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears signing for local rivals Bolton Wanderers and Chris Iwelumo signing for Watford. Ben Mee was signed on a season loan from big spending Manchester City, but there have not been too many other new faces arriving at Turf Moor in the Summer.
As with many teams in the Championship, Burnley will look to their form at Turf Moor on which to build a successful season. Last season they finished 12-6-5 there, scoring 40 goals and conceding 30. Burnley finished the season with just 2 wins from their last 7 home games after starting off in strong form.
Keith Treacy, a recent signing from rivals Preston North End, is in line to make his debut in this game.
Watford
While Burnley are hoping to match the efforts of last season, this looks like being a tough campaign for Watford, a team that has perhaps overachieved under the guidance of Malky Mackay over the last couple of seasons. They have annually been one of the favourites for relegation thanks to financial constraints and survival has to be the target this year.
Watford will have a new manager in Sean Dyche this season after Mackay took over at Cardiff City. Danny Graham has also been sold to Swansea City and it looks like being a tough season for the Hornets this year. They have signed Chris Iwelumo to provide the goals in the absence of Graham, but the squad is small and a few of the younger players are likely to get their opportunities as the season moves on.
They finished in a respectable 14th place last season, comfortably clear of the relegation zone. Watford were 7-6-10 away from home, scoring 38 goals and conceding 39, but they ended the season with only 1 win from their last 11 away games and they actually lost 4 of their last 5 games.
Sean Dyche expects to hand a few debuts in this match to the Summer signings made and he also feels it may take a bit of time for the team to gel together. However, Dyche is confident Watford can continue to surprise their fans even in the absence of Mackay.
Head to Head
Burnley and Watford were involved in 2 entertaining games last season which were both won by Burnley with at least 4 goals scored in both.
The 3-2 win at Turf Moor extended Burnley's unbeaten run at home against Watford to 5 games.
Goals have not been in short supply when the teams meet at Turf Moor- there have been an incredible 39 goals scored in the last 7 games between the two at this ground and there have been at least 4 goals combined in each of those games.
Prediction
Recent history has seen these games being very entertaining and I think we could be in line for another on Saturday.
Burnley will be expected to push forward as they are at home, while Watford showed on plenty of occasions last season that they can score goals and concede.
The last 9 games between the two teams have seen at least 3 goals scored, while the last 7 at Turf Moor have all been high scoring affairs.
I favoured Burnley to win this game, but the odds look on the short side for me and I would prefer to be on the Over 2.5 goals at a reasonable looking 1.75
The Pick :
Burnley 3-2 Watford
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.75 (Victor Chandler)
