Watford v Sunderland: Hornets to be stung at Vicarage Road

Watford v Sunderland
Saturday April 1, 15:00 BST

Watford

The Hornets have gone slightly under the radar when it comes to teams who have been talked about as possible relegation candidates. They aren't in woefully bad form and they are in 14th place with 31 points, but they are far from safe.

Walter Mazzarri's men were beaten 1-0 at Crystal Palace when they were last in action and prior to that it was a home defeat to Southampton, a draw at home against West Ham and a 2-0 loss at Old Trafford. In fact it's just two wins from 13 for Watford and they need to be looking over their shoulder.

As for the team news, Valon Behrami is a doubt due to a knock, and Christian Kabasele, Ben Watson, Roberto Pereyra and Mauro Zarate remain sidelined. Troy Deeney is expected to lead the line, flanked by the returning Nordin Amrabat and M'Baye Niang.

Sunderland

The Black Cats are rock bottom of the Premier League and they blew their chance of making up some ground a fortnight ago as they could only draw 0-0 at home with Burnley. That was a hugely disappointing result, not only because I put my faith in them to win, but because time is running out for them to get enough points to survive.

David Moyes must know that winning this match is imperative. They have to go to a resurgent Leicester on Tuesday and following that they are set to face Manchester United. Moyes needs at least six points from those three games, and this is the easiest of the three.

Jermain Defoe got back on the scoresheet for England during the international break and that could help him regain some confidence following a small dip in form. What he really needs though is the likes of Borini and Januzaj to support him and create more chances for him.

Match Odds 

Watford 1.89 Sunderland 4.80 The Draw 3.70

I may be a glutton for punishment here but I'm going to back Sunderland again. It might be a season to far for them when it comes to a late flurry to survive, but they are just too big at around the 4.80 mark to leave un-backed.

The hosts are hardly firing on all cylinders at the moment and while they have lost just five times at Vicarage Road this term, two of those came within their five most recent outings there and they've actually now won just one of six in front of their own fans.

The only positive from Sunderland's draw with Burnley is that it ended a three game losing run and prior to that they had beaten Crystal Palace 4-0 - at Selhurst Park. They also won at Bournemouth earlier in the campaign so they are capable of winning on the road and some may argue that their style of play is more suited to playing away.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals 

Over 2.5 Goals 2.14 Under 2.5 Goals 1.87

The Under is the slight fancy in this market but I'm going to throw logic out of the window and opt for plenty of goals. I did the same in Sunderland's 0-0 draw with Burnley, but the visitors are even more desperate for points now and Watford were at least involved in a seven goal thriller when they last played at home.

Over 2.5 backers would have collected in four of Watford's last seven at Vicarage Road and that includes 3-2, 1-4 and 3-4 scorelines. Admittedly, Sunderland haven't found the net in nearly seven hours of football, but it's now or never for them and at least Defoe ended his goalless run on Sunday.

I'm not just going to tip Over 2.5 though, I'm taking a punt on Over 4.5 goals at odds of 8.40. Get the men in white coats.

Recommended Bets
Back Sunderland @ 4.80
Back Over 4.5 Goals @ 8.40