Watford are looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season as they travel to Birmingham City for a midweek Championship fixture. Birmingham have found things difficult at the start of the season and should struggle against a confident Watford side.
Birmingham City are coming off their first Championship defeat of the season as they were beaten 1-0 at Cardiff last time out. They fell behind early in the contest and could have lost by more, with the Welsh side missing a host of chances.
Although that was their first Championship defeat of the season, it has still been a generally poor start to the campaign for Birmingham City. John Eustace’s men have claimed just one win from their first four league and Cup matches this term.
There have been a few problems at Birmingham City this season, they have kept just one clean sheet in four matches across all competitions. They have also failed to score in two of their three Championship matches.
While Birmingham City are struggling to find some consistency, Watford are enjoying a fine start to the season. Rob Edwards’ men are unbeaten after three matches and are one of the teams setting the early pace.
While Watford will be keen to extend their fine start for a long as possible, the problem is that they could be in danger of losing some of their key players. Emmanuel Dennis has already sealed a move to Nottingham Forest while Ismaila Sarr is also attracting attention from a number of Premier League clubs.
However for now, it is two wins and a draw from three Championship matches for Watford. Their previous fixture was a 1-0 victory over Burnley with Tom Cleverly’s effort in first half injury time proving the difference.
How the bookies view it
Watford have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 13/10 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Birmingham City is valued at 5/2 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 23/10 by bet365.
Recent head to head
Watford have a fine record in this fixture and have won seven of the last eight matches against Birmingham City. The Hornets did the double over Birmingham in their last Championship campaign back in 2020-21, with the clash at St Andrews ending 1-0.
Players to watch
Watford’s fine start to the season has been driven by a solid backline that has kept clean sheets in two of their three matches so far.
Francisco Sierralta and Craig Cathcart have been at the heart of the defence and with Birmingham City struggling in attack, they will be confident of keeping a clean sheet at 7/4 with BoyleSports.
At the other end of the pitch, with Emmanuel Dennis gone, Ismaila Sarr will be the one to watch for Watford. The attacker was on target in the Hornets last outing on the road and is priced at 9/4 with Unibet to get on the score sheet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Watford’s defensive solidity and with Birmingham City struggling in attack, BTTS NO could be considered at evens with BoyleSports. The Hornets have won to nil in seven of the last eight meetings with Birmingham and could be set for a repeat at 13/5 with BetVictor.
Watford’s defending has been solid this season and given their record in recent meetings with Birmingham City, could be tipped as the only team to score at 5/2 with bet365.
This England Championship match between Birmingham City and Watford will be played on Aug 16, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Birmingham City vs Watford prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
