England Premier League
Saturday 16th October 2021
Kick off at 12:30pm BST
Venue: Vicarage Road
Match Preview:
Watford will kick off their lunch time game with yet another new manager in charge after Xisco Munoz was sacked after just seven games. In steps Claudio Ranieri in what might be his last job for the 70 year old Italian.
Of course Ranieri will forever evoke memories of winning the league title with Leicester in 2016 and he has signed a 2 year deal. However do not expect a repeat performance. Indeed even if Ranieri stabilises the club there are no guarantees that he will keep his job, since the Watford board love to chop and change. The loss of Munoz who had done very little wrong and had even got the Hornets promoted is at the very best the Premier League’s gain to see Ranieri once more.
Munoz’s last game finished in a 1-0 loss against Leeds and as a result Watford come into this game in 15th place and have seven points.
Liverpool are the only unbeaten side left in the Premier League and their last game was an epic duel against Manchester City which finished 2-2, although the Reds would have been disappointed with the final result. They were leading 2-1 and were at home, so from their perspective that’s 2 points dropped.
The Reds have looked solid but they will be chasing victory here given that it is now 3 games since they won a game which came against Crystal Palace. Away from home Jurgen Klopp’s side have the 2nd best record in the league and are scoring on average 3 goals per game.
Team News:
Watford: Peter Etebo is out long term, at least for the next 3 months with a thigh injury. Christian Kabasele has a hamstring injury and isn’t due back this month. Joshua King has recovered from a muscle injury and is back in training, he will be assessed for this game.
Liverpool: Alisson and Fabinho are on international duty and are unavailable. Curtis Jones has been ruled out with a knock. Thiago Alcantara has a calf injury and is a major doubt for this match.
Watford vs Liverpool Head to Head:
The last time the two teams played each other was in 2020 and Watford stunned a then unbeaten Liverpool side by beating them 3-0.
The teams have played each other just 34 times and Liverpool has 24 wins.
In the last seven meetings both teams to score has only occurred once.
Watford vs Liverpool Prediction:
Liverpool are around 1.30 to win this game but history tells us that when teams change managers there is a reaction. Ranieri will set up the team to defend deep and try and counter. Having said that this doesn’t seem like the correct game to give as the first one to a new manager.
Liverpool are going to have most of the possession and it will be about putting their chances away. In the history between these two sides Liverpool have won over 70% of the games and we expect them to do so again. Although for some value it might be worth backing the Reds to find an early goal and have them winning by the first half.
Watford will try and look at how Brentford approached their recent 3-3 draw at home to Liverpool. But it’s hard to see any surprises here and it is telling that Liverpool look on the money this season having scored 17 goals so far that is the most of any club in the league and this train is set to keep on charging.
Watford vs Liverpool Betting Tips:
Half Time: Liverpool to be winning at 1.91
First goalscorer: Mohamed Salah at 4.00
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