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Leeds to win, BTTS no – 7/2
With Leeds’ recent upturn in form, they will be heading into the game with increased confidence against a Watford side without a home win since November. The returns of Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper should be enough to blunt a dysfunctional attack and claim a first clean sheet since November 30.
Under 2.5 goals and Kalvin Phillips to be carded – 4/1 (via BetBuilder)
It is likely to be a tight affair with Leeds’ defence strengthened and neither team wanting to give anything away in terms of the relegation fight. Phillips however likes a tackle and after months out could be a little too eager.
Match preview
With Burnley grabbing a vital three points over Everton on Wednesday night, time is fast running out for Watford if they want to stay in the Premier League next season.
The win over Southampton was followed up by a regulation 2-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend, and with teams around them picking up points – apart from Frank Lampard’s Toffees – Watford are three points adrift having played a game more than their two closest rivals.
That means in the space of a few weeks, their fortunes could have dramatically reversed but they will consider it vital that they get three points over Leeds to drag them back into the relegation question.
With the Whites currently six points ahead of Burnley in 18th and eight clear of Watford in total, one more win should be enough to all-but guarantee their safety so Watford know they can ill-afford to slip up.
Leeds will fancy their chances however.
With seven points taken from their last three outings, they are slowly gaining in confidence and have the ability to pull a result out of nowhere that their relegation rivals do not possess.
A defeat to Roy Hodgson’s side would undo the good work of recent weeks, but with Kalvin Phillips returning in the draw to Southampton there is a growing confidence in West Yorkshire that they should be a tougher opponent to break down than they have been in recent months.
The plummeting form of Everton has offered encouragement that there are teams in worse form than Jesse Marsch’s side, but with consecutive games against Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea to come after back-to-back away games at Watford and Crystal Palace, they don’t want to leave themselves with too much work to do.
Watford FC team news
Roy Hodgson has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game.
Kwadwo Baah has recovered from an ankle problem and is back in full training with the squad – though this could come too soon for him to start – while Nicolas Nkoulou is also likely to miss out once again.
Leeds United team news
For the first time under his reign, Jesse Marsch will be able to call on Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper from the start for the trip to Watford, after the pair completed 30 and 90 minutes respectively in the draw against Southampton.
Joe Gelhardt is likely to be available after a dead-leg scare for the under-23s on Monday, while Jamie Shackleton has returned to training but Tyler Roberts, Patrick Bamford and Junior Firpo are all out despite making good progress.
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