Eng. Championship
2013-05-09 - Leicester City vs Watford
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship Play-Off Semi Final 1st Leg
Thursday 9th May 2013 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
LEICESTER CITY
We’ve reached the business end of the Championship season as the play-offs for the ultimate prize of a place in the Premiership is now up for grabs for the last remaining four teams battling it out for just one winner.
This two-legged play-off fixture pits the wits of two teams that have struggled for any sort of consistency in the run-in towards the end of the season as hosts Leicester City take on Watford in what is going to be a crucial 180 minutes of football for both clubs.
Leicester City grabbed the all-important three points and bragging rights over their east midland arch rivals Nottingham Forest at the City Ground no less at the weekend, edging out Bolton Wanderers on superior goal difference, and I expect the squad and manager heaved a huge sigh of relief.
The Foxes now need to make the most of their final push with the visit of Watford and they finished the season with an overall home record of 13-4-6 46/23. However, as the season was drawing to a close, Leicester actually won just one of their last six matches at the King Power Stadium which ultimately cooked Bolton’s goose as they beat The Trotters 3-2.
But defeats against Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and tonight’s visitors Watford along with draws against Leeds United and Birmingham City will have manager Nigel Pearson putting his squad on red alert here tonight.
WATFORD
Visitors Watford have also been unconvincing in recent weeks as they limped towards the final match of the season, and missing out on an automatic promotion spot on the final day of the season when they lost 1-2 at home to Leeds United in a surprise defeat.
Mixed results though in the last few weeks ultimately cost them their passage into the big-time and they now have to put three recent defeats behind them and focus on the play-off semi finals. Unexpected defeats against Peterborough United and Millwall, as well as Leeds means that Gianfranco Zola’s men now have to do it the hard way starting with a trip to Leicester.
Watford go into this match having beaten The Foxes recently in a 2-1 away win so they may have a slight edge, but as we all know in these matches, the form book goes out of the window and really anything could happen in these high-stakes fixtures. Watford finished with an overall away record of 12-3-8 44/31 but The Hornets won only twice in their last six matches on the road with victories at Hull City and Leicester City, with an additional defeat at Barnsley.
THE BETTING VERDICT:
With both teams struggling for form going into this crucial first leg, neither team will want to be giving away early ground so I will back the draw here tonight in what could be a 1-1 stalemate with both teams on level-pegging going into the second leg.
The Pick :
Leicester City 1 Watford 1
