TWO teams battling for their lives towards the bottom of the Premier League meet at Turf Moor on Saturday evening, as Burnley entertain Watford.
Due to fixtures being postponed, the Clarets have taken to the pitch for top flight action on only three occasions since the middle of December.
That enforced downtime has seen Sean Dyche's side slip to the bottom of the standings, but they do have at least two games in hand on all other teams in the division.
What's more, Burnley strengthened their bid to beat the drop by earning a hard-fought 0-0 draw away at Arsenal last time out, but Dyche and Co will have earmarked this fixture with Watford as one where three points are crucial if they are to pull off the great escape.
After suffering a disastrous 3-0 defeat at home to Norwich, Claudio Ranieri became the latest victim of the trigger-happy Hornets hierarchy, who subsequently made a swift move to make Roy Hodgson their 15th manager since taking control of the club.
The seasoned Premier League boss – a survival specialist in every sense of the term – perhaps now faces his biggest challenge to date in steering the Hertfordshire outfit to safety.
Outright Betting
Burnley, who have prevailed in just one of their last 17 Premier League home matches, head into this clash as 13/10 (SBK) favourites while a share of the spoils in trading at 23/10 (SBK).
Watford are winless in each of their last eight top flight fixtures and the bookies' odds suggest the wait for another three points will continue, with an away win chalked up at 28/11 (SBK).
Betting Angles
With the match result market best avoided in this relegation six-pointer, I'm going to dip into Bet 365‘s Bet Builder feature and combine each team to receive a card, over three match cards and under five match goals at 4/5 (Bet 365).
The stakes are pretty high heading into this dust-up and given the immense pressure that will be on both sides, I suspect that sparks could fly at Turf Moor.
What's more, Burnley currently sit sixth in the English Premier League disciplinary standings with their 2.06 card per-game average, a tally that increases to a league-high 2.57 when playing on home turf.
Watford, on the other hand, are averaging 1.95 yellow per 90 this term, not to mention the Hornets shared five cards in a similar type of assignment with relegation rivals Newcastle during their last top-flight road trip.
Granted, referee Craig Pawson is generally a middle of the range card issuer, but the aforementioned card combination has clicked in six of the last Premier League matches under the Sheffield-born whistlers' watch.
With all that in mind, I'm more than happy to side with a booking apiece and four match cards combined, but to nudge up the price, I'll also throw under five match goals into the mix.
All but one Burnley's 18 league outings to date have broken the over 4.5 goal barrier and whilst six of Watford's 20Premier League fixtures this term have featured five goals or more, I suspect that trend could decline moving forward given the pragmatism that Roy Hodgson sides are famed for.
With all things considered, as well as this being a game neither side can afford to lose, the aforementioned 4/5 (Bet 365) Bet Builder makes appeal in what should be a keenly-contested affair under the Lancashire lights.
This English Premier League match between Burnley and Watford will be played on Feb 5, 2022 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Burnley vs Watford prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
