Watford v Fulham
Tuesday April 2, 19:45
Tuesday April 2, 19:45
Watford impress at Old Trafford
Watford's wastefulness was punished on Saturday as the Hornets were denied their first ever league win at Old Trafford. Javi Gracia's men returned from the international break with a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United but can be encouraged by their positive performance, dominating possession for long periods and creating numerous opportunities.
Watford fired in 20 shots at the weekend - eight of which were on-target - as they began both halves on top. Gerard Deulofeu was a constant threat on the left, Troy Deeney gave the United defence a busy afternoon, whilst Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue bossed midfield. Unfortunately, the Hornets lacked a clinical touch in the final-third.
Tuesday night's hosts may now look to rest and rotate ahead of their FA Cup semi-finalshowdown against Wolves at the weekend. Gracia made seven changes ahead of the Hornets' last-eight encounter despite enjoying a full week's rest before the quarter-finals; the likes of Isaac Success, Andre Gray and Kiko Femenia could be recalled here.
Fulham fall to eighth straight defeat
Relegation-haunted Fulham fell to their eighth successive defeat on Saturday as defending champions Manchester City cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory at Craven Cottage. The visitors had 10 efforts at goal in the opening 15 minutes and were two goals up inside half-an-hour, all but ending the encounter as a competitive contest before the interval.
Some woeful defending from Fulham - who have now conceded 72 goals, the worst record in the top-flight - contributed to both goals, with Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Joe Bryan both guilty of gifting the ball to City near their own goal. Scott Parker's side also struggled to make an impression at the other end of the pitch and failed to register a shot on target.
Injury deprived the Cottagers of 10-goal top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic as the started the City showdown with a line-up that had seven league goals between them this term. The Serbian remains 50-50 for the midweek match with Ryan Babel likely to continue up top. Tim Ream and Jean Michael Seri are also doubts, whilst Alfie Mawson remains sidelined.
Hornets can justify odds-on quotes
Each of the three previous Premier League meetings between Watford and Fulham have finished level, with the only previous match at Vicarage Road ending 3-3 back in October 2006. Nevertheless, the Hornets have W3-D1-L1 in their last five home outings against the Cottagers, last losing here against the West Londoners back in a second-tier match in 2001.
Watford 1.73 have pocketed back-to-back home Premier League triumphs, as many as they had in their previous nine at Vicarage Road (W2-D2-L5), and a third win on the spin here would see the hosts eclipse their club Premier League record of 45 points, set in 2015/16. Gracia's group have W11-D7-L3 when excluding the Big Six this season.
Fulham 5.30 arrive on an eight-match losing streak and have picked up just two points from 48 away since promotion (W0-D2-L14). The Cottagers and are the only side in the top four tiers yet to win on the road in 2018/19 and have leaked at least twice in their past 12 games, the longest sequence in the top-flight since a run of 14 by Newcastle in 1977.
Watford may well make widespread changes to their team on Tuesday but there's not a huge disparity between their first XI and their talented squad players - as seen during the Hornets' impressive efforts in the FA Cup - so the 1.73 available on a home success holds plenty of appeal here.
Goals too short to support
Goals have been a regular occurrence at Vicarage Road this term, although Watford's matches against the Big Six may have skewed such figures. The hosts have seen all five fixtures against the Premier League's elite feature at least three figures with five of their remaining nine following suit as only four paid out for Both Teams To Score backers.
Fulham's rotten defensive efforts - conceding twice or more in 14 of 16 games as guests - ensures Over 2.5 Goals 1.71 always goes close. However, only six of 10 trips to teams outside of the Big Six have returned Over 2.5 Goals profit, which again suggests there's little value in supporting a goal-heavy game at the prices available.
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