Another round of Premier League matches begins on Friday night and it gets going with an absolutely massive clash at the bottom of the table as Watford host Norwich City in what looks like a defining evening for both teams.
These two sides are in their first campaign back from the Championship and you get the feeling whoever loses this match will be consigned to the second tier once again come the end of the season. The winners give themselves a fighting chance of survival.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels. The build-up to the match begins at 7pm and the kick off at Vicarage Road is at 8pm.
Watford
The Hornets seemed to start the season fairly well but seven points from their opening seven games didn’t hold off a managerial change. They would be hard pushed to say it worked because in their next 12 matches they have amassed the same number of points and go into this match without a win in seven in the league and having taken a bit of a beating in the FA Cup. Claudio Ranieri might have done wonders at Leicester City but you sense he is not a modern manager and that might be reflected in recent results.
The one positive that Watford have going into this match is that in the main they score a goal each time they go onto the pitch. Only one of those last seven have they not found the back of the net so that is something. That means that they need to improve their defence if they are going to give themselves another season in the Premier League. You would imagine that will happen under Claudio Ranieri but there are no signs of that just yet.
Norwich City
The perennial yoyo club look like they are going to maintain their run of going up then coming down again but they gave themselves a glimmer of hope in staying up last week when they beat Everton and were they to come away from this match with the three points they will escape the relegation zone for the first time this season. That has to be a huge incentive for them to deliver the goods in this match but they will need to show that they didn’t just beat a terrible Everton team.
Unlike Watford, Norwich just can’t score goals regularly. The two they got against Everton last week were just their second and third in none matches. They only have 10 goals all season and if they are to give themselves any chance of remaining in the Premier League this term then that figure is going to need to treble at the very least over the rest of the season. Even then they concede so many that it might not make much difference.
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Team News
Watford remain without their quartet at the Africa Cup of Nations so that means they are without William Troost-Ekong, Imran Louza, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Masina. Emmanuel Dennis didn’t go to that tournament and could feature here.
Norwich have been dealt a blow with the news that Tim Krul will miss the match with a shoulder problem. They do have Kenny McLean back after Covid though and Max Aarons and Brandon Williams are also available. Mathias Normann and Billy Gilmour are among a few who are out.
Betting
This is a very tricky betting assignment. We have the team that can’t score against the team who can’t keep the ball out of their net. The only difference is that the team who can’t score against can’t stop conceding so maybe that gives Watford a fair edge in this match. I’m still not convinced I want to back them at around the even money mark though in a massive match when they haven’t won any of their last seven in the Premier League. I can’t say I’m overly rushing to back Norwich either though.
I’ve searched for a real angle into this match and I can’t find one I’m hugely confident on but the odds of more than 2/1 on there being a penalty in the game could be something that delivers. This is a match neither can afford to lose so there will be plenty of last-gasp defending and bodies on the line but the reason why these two are at the bottom of the table is because their defenders don’t make good decisions. Watford have conceded a penalty in three of their last five league games and Norwich have given away two in that time. With desperate defending the order of the day it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise to me if a spot kick is conceded.
Tips
Back Penalty in the match for a 2/10 stake at 3.10 with Boylesports
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