Watford will be aiming to maintain their push for a promotion playoff place as they travel to Swansea City for a Friday night English Championship fixture.
As the season slowly crosses the halfway mark, the task for Swansea City will be to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle. For now, they have a seven-point lead over the bottom three but one win in their last nine matches should be troubling for manager Russell Martin.
Swansea City head into Friday’s clash winless in their last three matches, with two defeats in that run, including a 2-1 loss at Reading in their previous Championship fixture. They have also found things difficult at home lately and were beaten 1-0 by Norwich City last time out in front of their fans.
One of the problems for Swansea City this season is Joel Piroe’s struggles in front of goal. The striker only has six Championship goals this season, scoring just once in his last six matches.
Watford have a different battle on their hands in the second half of the season as they are looking to secure a playoff finish. They are currently fourth on the table and need to maintain their positive run to fend of the likes of Norwich City and Millwall breathing down their neck.
The Hornets have already lost to Millwall as they were beaten 2-0 in their previous Championship fixture. However, that was their first defeat in five matches having also kept clean sheets in the previous four fixtures.
The good news for Watford is that they head to Swansea City on a fine run on their travels having gone unbeaten in their last four away matches. Slavan Bilic’s men have claimed three wins in that run and also kept as many clean sheets.
How the bookies view it
Despite their problems, Swansea City still have the edge among the bookies at 13/10 with Coral. A victory for Watford is valued at 13/5 by BoyleSports while a draw is set at odds of 9/4 with Unibet.
Head to head
Watford have a 9-7 edge with three draws from 19 previous matches against Swansea City. The last four meetings have been evenly split at two wins apiece with the Swans claiming a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in October.
Players to watch
Watford’s recent good form had been driven by a solid defence with Craig Cathcart and Christian Kabasele impressing at centre-back. The Hornets have kept three clean sheets in their last four away matches and both men can lead them to a repeat at 14/5 with BoyleSports.
At the other end of the pitch, Joao Pedro will be the one to watch for Watford as he looks to add to his eight Championship goals. The striker is priced at 7/2 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Friday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Watford’s defensive record on the road and with Swansea City’s attackers looking off colour, BTTS NO could be on the cards at evens with BetVictor. The Hornets have seen under 2.5 goals in their last six matches and a repeat is priced at 8/11 by bet365.
Having kept clean sheets in three of their last four away matches, Watford can be tipped to earn a win to nil at 5/1 with BoyleSports.
This England Championship match between Swansea City and Watford will be played on Dec 30, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Swansea City vs Watford prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
