Arsenal vs. Watford Prediction, 7/26/20
With their Premier League future still unclear, 18th-placed Watford is entering the deciding game of the current campaign, paying a visit to 10th-placed Arsenal, who have nothing else to play for. Kick-off - at 11:00 AM ET on Sunday, July 26.
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Arsenal Lose In Birmingham
After beating newly-crowned champions Liverpool with a count of 2-1 on July 15 and reaching the FA Cup final following a 2-0 triumph over Manchester City last Saturday, Arsenal dropped an unexpected 1-0 decision against relegation-threatened Aston Villa at Villa Park on Tuesday. The Gunners controlled the ball 69% of the time but were outshot 8-7, coming closest to scoring in the 77th minute when Eddie Nketiah’s header hit the post after the hosts were already leading 1-0 following a first-half corner. Currently sitting 10th in the league with a W13 D14 L10 record, Arsenal will finish outside the top-six for the first time in 25 years.
Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads Arsenal with 20 EPL goals, trailing Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy for the Premier League Golden Boot by three markers. Goalie Emiliano Martinez, meanwhile, sits 24th in England’s top tier with 30 saves. He has recorded three clean sheets in eight contests this year and allows a snipe every 97 minutes on average. Arsenal is 7th in most league goals buried this season (53), 5th in the least shots delivered per game (10.6), 6th in ball possession (52.9%), and 4th in passing accuracy (83.6%).
Watford Get Beaten By City
The battle for survival in the Premier League took another bad turn for Watford, who followed up last Friday’s crucial 3-1 defeat to West Ham United with a 4-0 battering at the hands of Manchester City at Vicarage Road on Tuesday. Fresh from becoming managerless after the surprise sacking of head coach Nigel Pearson, the Hornets, who were beaten 8-0 by the Citizens in Manchester earlier in the season had little to offer. Watford gave up 77% of ball possession and were outshot 26-2, allowing two goals in each half, subsequently dropping to the 18th place in the league (W8 D10 L19), now being level on points with 17th-placed Aston Villa, but with an inferior goal differential.
Team captain Troy Deeney tops the Hornets’ scoring chart with nine Premier League strikes for the season. Goalie Ben Foster, meanwhile, resides 6th in the EPL with 115 saves. He has collected nine clean sheets in 37 appearances during the ongoing campaign and gives up a goal every 55 minutes of play. Watford have netted the 3rd lowest quantity of league goals this year (34) while taking the 13th highest amount of shots per game (10.9). The team is 3rd from the bottom in both ball possession (44.2%) and passing accuracy (73.2%).
Prediction
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight home league outings (W6 D2). And while their chances of playing in the Europa League next season now solely depend on the outcome of the FA Cup final next weekend, expect a solid performance from the Gunners, who have already triumphed in eight straight league matches played on the last day of the campaign. Watford need a strong result here to survive the drop, but have been playing with not much spark lately and have already been beaten on five of their previous six trips to see off Arenal in the Premier League (W1 L5), failing to score a single goal in each of those defeats.
Best bet:
Arsenal to win (-110)