WATFORD RECORD 2017/18 SEASON
Games Played: 12
W: 4
D: 3
L: 5
GF: 5
GA: 24
GD: -5
@ Home
Games Played: 6
W:1
D: 2
L: 3
GF: 7
GA: 14
GD: -7
The Hammers are playing Watford on a late Sunday night kick-off at Vicarage Road. Everyone expects a good game, with a lot of goals, since both two teams carry two of the five worst defensive records in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, Watford are more comfortable in the table, currently sat in 9th place with a couple of good exhibitions, even against tough teams, such as Chelsea and Arsenal. On the other hand, worrying times at the London Stadium, with Slaven Bilic being sacked and David Moyes coming in with a clear mission: avoid relegation for West Ham.
Analysing Watford, Marco Silva usually plays with two different tactical displays. In two games, against Arsenal and Chelsea, he opted to play in a 3-5-2. In all other games, the Portuguese manager opted for a conventional 4-3-3 that characterizes him.
Marco Silva, who has a 53,60% win rate in his curriculum as a manager, is struggling with his home record at Watford. Having played 6 games at home so far, his team was only able to win one game, in the last minute, against Arsenal. Despite the humiliation against Manchester City at home, having conceded 6 goals, Watford managed to get some important points (such as the wins in Bournemouth, Southampton and Swansea) on the road to stay comfortable in the table.
Watford’s last game against Everton was a disaster. After scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, they conceded three goals in 24 minutes. Moreover, Tom Cleverley who scored the winner against Arsenal in the last minute, missed the penalty with three minutes to go. To makes things worse, Marco Silva had to replace one of the most experienced players in the Premier League, Heurello Gomes. The 36 years old goalkeeper is still an uncertainty for the game against the Hammers, which would be a massive loss for the Hornets, considering Karnezis’ disastrous performance at Goodison Park two weeks ago.
According to the stats, if Watford’s biggest weakness is its defense, since they are the 4th worst in the Premier League (and the team that concedes more headed goals this season, go on Andy!), Watford have a great attacking trio. Although Andre Gray has yet to justify the 18.5M £ paid by the Hornets, Richarlison seems to be one of the most impressive players in the Premier League so far. The 20 years old winger has scored 4 goals in 11 games (two of them in the last minutes of the game), and provided two assists. On the other wing, Carrillo, who played 20 minutes for Peru in their world-cup qualifying match this week, seems to have resurrected after two terrible seasons at both Sporting Lisbon and Benfica.
Both Watford and West Ham have been unlucky with injuries so far this season. The Hornets have seven players that are confirmed not to play against the Hammers. Catchart, Chalobah, Hoban, Kaboul, Prodl and Success are out due to injuries, whereas Deeney won’t play on Sunday, still serving a three-match ban for violent conduct during the game against Stoke. Heurelho Gomes and Christian Kabasele are in doubt to play on Sunday.
Prediction: Watford 2 West Ham 3
By Duarte Tavares da Silva
@tavaresda_silva