Watford welcome Southampton to Vicarage Road for their FA Cup fourth round clash on Sunday. Both teams have shown some good form lately but with the Hornets looking slightly off colour at home, Southampton will fancy their chances of claiming the upper hand.
Watford reached the fourth round of the Fa Cup after claiming a 2-2 victory over National League side Chesterfield. They were made to come from behind with second half efforts from Mileta Rajovic and Tom Dele-Bashiru sealing the win.
The Hornets have been decent lately as they are unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions. However, they have only picked up two wins in that run with the other three ending in draws.
A slight problem for Watford heading into Sunday’s clash is that they have found things difficult at Vicarage Road in recent weeks. The victory over Chesterfield was the first in five matches for Valentin Ismael’s men, who have suffered two defeats in that run.
Southampton were rampant in the previous round as they ran out 4-0 winners over League Two side Walsall. Ryan Fraser netted a brace while Sekou Mara and Che Adams were also on target.
That result is part of an impressive run for Southampton, who have not tasted defeat since September. Russell Martin’s men have won seven of last eight matches across all competition and travel to Vicarage Road off the back of a 3-1 Championship victory at Swansea City.
The win at Swansea City extends a fine run on the road for Southampton, who are unbeaten in their last 10 away matches. However, they are often unconvincing at the back having kept just one clean sheet in the last six in that run.
How the bookies view it
Southampton have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 11/10 by Unibet to claim the win. A victory for Watford is valued at 12/5 with Coral while a draw is set at odds of 3/1 with bet365.
Head to head
Southampton have a 14-12 advantage with 12 draws from 38 previous matches against Watford. Both teams battled to a 1-1 draw in a Championship fixture back in December.
Players to watch
Mileta Rajovic continues to impress for Watford and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The forward was on target in the third round and is priced at 5/2 by Paddy Power to get on the score sheet.
Che Adams heads into Sunday’s clash in good form having scored in five of the last six matches across all competitions. The forward also found the net in the previous round and is priced at 19/10 by William Hill to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both teams know their way to goal and could be backed to score at 8/13 with bet365. Southampton saw over 3.5 goals in their last away fixture and a repeat is priced at 7/4 with Paddy Power while over 2.5 goals is valued at 4/6 with bet365.
Southampton have scored in both halves in their last three matches and Saturday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 9/5 with Paddy Power.
This FA Cup match between Watford and Southampton will be played on Jan 28, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Watford vs Southampton prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
