Watford and Newcastle United both scored a top team on Boxing Day. On Saturday afternoon, these two teams face each other on Vicarage Road. What can we expect from this game in the twentieth round of the Premier League?
Watford:
If Watford gets a good result against Newcastle United, The Hornets may be able to increase some places in the rankings. The team of Javi Gracia is in ninth place in the Premier League and has only one point behind number seven Leicester City. Everton still has 27 points between Leicester City and Watford. The Toffees have a better goal difference than Watford and are therefore above The Hornets. Anyway, the Spaniard Javi Gracia has it all reasonable on the ride at this Watford. Almost every team has a hard time with The Hornets and in shape it is also good at Watford. The club remained unbeaten in three of the last four Premier League matches and two of those games were won by The Hornets.
The defeat came about on Boxing Day. On Wednesday-evening, Chelsea was a guest on Vicarage Road and at Watford they came to a halt around rest with a hit by Eden Hazard. Both teams, however, went into the locker room with a 1-1 draw position, as Roberto Pereyra was responsible for the equalizer immediately after Hazard’s goal. The Argentinian again made Chelsea its sixth league goal this season. Unfortunately for Watyra, Watford did not manage to hold onto the lead. The Hornets gave away a penalty after an hour of play and Hazard used that ping. After the 1-2 from Chelsea, Watford no longer manages to score a goal and so The Hornets stayed scoreless.
Newcastle United:
Newcastle United does a lot less than Watfrord. The Magpies are in the Premier League in a disappointing fifteenth place and still have to worry. After all, the advantage over the teams under the degradation line is only five points. Looking purely at the selection of Newcastle United, it should be possible for The Magpies to maintain this season. The only problem is that the team of Rafael Benítez performs very changeable throughout the season. Newcastle United recently won 0-1 at competitor Huddersfield Town, but the Magpies did not manage to win Fulham in-house (0-0) a week later.
Just like Watford, Newcastle United also crashed on Boxing Day. Where Watford still offered a nice match against Chelsea, Newcastle United got to see all corners of the field at Liverpool: 4-0. The Magpies were fairly unaffected by Anfield and it is nothing for a team from Benítez to go down so hard to visit a top club from the Premier League. In general, the Spanish coach throws things up in the back. Against his old club that worked a lot less and the Newcastle United defenders were sometimes completely searched by the Liverpool attackers. Incidentally, it must be mentioned that goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka only had to collect two of the four hits in the final stage. If Newcastle United visits Watford, it will certainly have to be a lot sharper in defense. Interestingly enough, Newcastle United lost only three away games this season. All three defeats came to a visit to top teams. On the other hand, Newcastle has only won one of the last six league matches.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.88
