Premier League: Guns Out for Arsenal at Vicarage Road

Watford FC vs Arsenal

Arsenal are making a strong push for a Top 4 spot in the Premier League and they’ll be seeking for their fourth win in a row when they’ll take on Watford at Vicarage Road this weekend.

The Gunners are sixth at the table with 45 points and level with fifth-seeded West Ham United. However, with three games on hand, they have a better chance on improving their position.

Watford are currently in a relegation scrap since they’re at 19^th with only 19 points. The Hornets have been stuttering lately, although they did Arsenal a favour when they held the Red Devils to a draw in the last time out.

Because of their disparity at the table, the pre-match SBOTOP betting odds are favouring Arsenal to take all three points, but Mikel Arteta’s side cannot let their guard down especially if you’ll examine what happened in their reverse fixture.

Talking Points

Instability remains the theme for Watford

Watford has the same number of managerial changes and wins over these past few months, and now they find themselves in a familiar situation since they’re entrenched in the relegation zone.

Claudio Ranieri replaced Xisco Munoz earlier this season and that hasn’t worked out, so again, the Hornets quickly replaced him with Roy Hodgson – who is unlikely to stay with the club in the long run.

Six Premier League games in and nothing much has changed for Watford except for their slightly improved defence as they’ve kept three clean sheets, which is as many as they have in their previous 38 matches under four different managers.

Despite that, they’re still in trouble because of their inability to score enough since they’re the fourth-worst attacking team this season with only 25 goals.

Emmanuel Dennis is currently their top scorer with nine goals and five assists, but he hasn’t featured in their starting XI recently because of his niggling injuries. Watford are hopeful that he’s 100-per cent fit since they’ll definitely need his goals.

Joshua King and Ismaila Sarr have both proven that they can score and they have five goals each and four assists combined. However, their moments of brilliance have only come few and far between so far.

Arsenal are peaking at the right time

Arsenal are back on the right path, thanks in large part to their core of bright youngsters.

Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard have all been superb up front. Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsdale has emerged as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper over Bernd Leno.

The young Gunners are clearly doing their part, so it’s the veterans’ turn to step up in order for them to achieve their main objective this term.

Mikel Arteta’s side is currently enjoying a three-game winning streak, which includes a league double against the Wolves and a 2-1 win over Brentford.

With a return to the Champions League on their sights, the Gunners are keen on picking up as much points as they can. After Watford, they’ll take on Leicester City and Liverpool at home in just a span of 10 days.

History

Watford have had a losing record against Arsenal in the Premier League (W2, D1, L12), although they’ve been slightly better in their last three home games against them (W1, D1, L1).

Arsenal have managed to score in all 15 of their Premier League matches against Watford. It is only against West Brom that they’ve had a better scoring rate in the English top-flight (26 consecutive matches).

Their reverse fixture took place in early November 2021 where Arsenal bagged home the win with a 1-0 scoreline as Emile Smith Rowe found the back of the net 11 minutes after halftime.

It was Mikel Arteta’s 100^th match in charge and Claudio Ranieri was still Watford’s manager back then.

Betting Tip 

Arsenal are the favourites to win in this game based on the updated Premier League 2022 odds. The Gunners are priced at 1.56, while the Hornets are pegged at 6.20 and chances for a draw are at 3.70 in the 1X2 market.

Just like in the last few meetings that these two sides had, we’re expecting another intense affair all throughout and we might not see a ton of Premier League 2022 highlights, making Under 2.50 @ 1.86 a great alternative bet.

In the end, the Gunners are the ones who will score the goals since the Hornets are likely to struggle to even score one, so we will give the visitors the edge in taking the victory this weekend.

 

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