The stakes are high in the Premier League on Friday night when the third to last round of matches conclude with a huge London derby as West Ham United host Watford in a match which is sure to have a major say in the battle to avoid the drop.
Both these sides begin the night three points above the relegation zone with two matches to play after it so whoever wins here will be as good as safe while the losers will have a nervy week or so ahead.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live on Sky Main Event and Sky Sports Football in the UK. The build up to the contest begins at 7.30pm with the match itself starting at 8pm.
West Ham United
The Hammers go into this match with just one defeat in their last four outings which has hauled them away from the relegation zone and with their goal difference being significantly better than anything else in the mix to stay up, you’ve got to think a win here will be enough for West Ham to secure another season of Premier League football, something that didn’t look likely when they tamely lost their first two matches out of lockdown.
West Ham have really found their scoring boots at just the right time. They have scored three against Chelsea and four against Norwich and with the form of Michail Antonio they might well stay up. Where they need to make sure they don’t slacken is in defence. Conceding sloppy goals has been one of the things that has held them back throughout the season and now that the crunch time has arrived, they can ill afford that to continue.
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Watford
Watford looked to be going absolutely nowhere with one point from their opening four matches after lockdown but two very soft fixtures came along at the right time and to be fair to them they took advantage of them with successive wins to ease some of their relegation fears. They are not out of the woods yet but if they can turn this revival into a third straight success then they will be as good as safe given their goal difference.
The obvious thing to note however is both of those victories were at home and if we are being honest there was nothing really convincing about them. Wins are wins but when you need a special overhead kick to beat a Norwich side who look like they never came out of lockdown, and two penalties to see off a Newcastle team playing for little, you could rightly question the form. That said winning breeds confidence so maybe we’ll see a better road display from them. We will need to though as they only have one point from their last six away games.
Team News
Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass are being assessed ahead of the game. Both men are back in training but whether David Moyes decides to risk them with two big matches next week as well remains to be seen.
Doubts over the Watford captain Troy Deeney look to be unfounded with Nigel Pearson admitting his skipper wants to be involved in the game. The former Leicester boss remains without Gerard Deulofeu, Daryl Janmaat and Isaac Success.
Betting
West Ham were pretty comfortable winners at Vicarage Road earlier in the season when Sebastian Haller announced himself to Hammers fans and I expect the home side to win this one as well. Watford haven’t convinced me for a long while and had it not been for the reputation of Nigel Pearson as a bit of an escape artist, I think they would be being written off much more than they actually are. When you look through their results and performances though there are plenty of holes in them.
There has always been attacking talent in this West Ham side but it has taken a while to come out. The addition of Tomas Soucek has made a big difference though and he could be a decent anytime scorer bet but it is West Ham for me in this one. Watford seem incapable of performing on the road whereas West Ham look to have finally built up a head of steam. I’ll take the draw cover on offer here because we are at the business end of the season where things get tight, and it isn’t necessarily the worst result for both, but if there is a winner, and I think there will be, I think it will be West Ham.
Tips
Back West Ham (-0.25AH) to beat Watford for a 3/10 stake at 2.06 with BetVictor
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