Watford vs. Newcastle United Prediction, 7/11/20

Still battling for survival in the Premier League, 17th-placed Watford will be playing host to 13th-placed Newcastle United, who have already guaranteed themselves a spot in England’s top tier for the next season. Kick-off - at 7:30 AM ET on Saturday, July 11.

Watford Edge Out Norwich

Watford improved their chances of staying in England’s top-flight for another year after ending a five-game winless streak (D1 L4) with a 2-1 home victory over basement boys Norwich City at Vicarage Road on Tuesday. The visitors opened the scoring just four minutes into the game before defender Craig Dawson equalized with a header following a set-piece, with Danny Welbeck eventually grabbing the win for the Hornets in the 55th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick, thus burying his first Premier League snipe since August 2018. Watford have now won two of their past 12 league contests (W2 D3 L7), sitting 17th in the standings (W7 D10 L17), three points above the drop-zone.

English striker Troy Deeney leads the Hornets with six league markers for the year but has found the back of the net just once in his last 10 appearances. Goalie Ben Foster, meanwhile, sits 6th in the Premier League with 105 saves. He has recorded nine clean sheets in 34 outings this year and allows a goal every 58 minutes on average. Watford has netted the 3rd lowest amount of snipes during the current campaign (31), while posting the 13th highest number of shots per game (10.9). The team is 3rd from the bottom in both ball possession (44.1%) and passing accuracy (73.4%).

Newcastle End Unbeaten Streak

A six-game unbeaten run (W3 D3) came to an end for Newcastle United, who were thrashed with a count of 5-0 by Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday. The Magpies gave up 74% of ball possession and were outshot 23-6, with the hosts netting two goals in the first 20 minutes of the contest before an own-goal by Federico Fernandez in the second half paved the way for two more strikes by the Citizens in the final 25 minutes of the game. Newcastle have lost on the road for the first time on their last three EPL trips (W2 L1) and are sitting 13th in the league (W11 D10 L13), completely safe from relegation this season.

Despite featuring in just 22 of the Magpies’ 34 Premier League contests this year, Jonjo Shelvey (6 goals, 1 assist) and Allan Saint-Maximin (3 goals, 4 assists) has the most goal contributions in the team. Slovakian Martin Dubravka, meanwhile, occupies the top of the league’s goalkeeper chart, having stopped 129 shots during the ongoing campaign. He has posted 10 clean sheets in 34 outings this season and conceded a snipe every 61 minutes of play. Newcastle are 15th in most markers netted this year (35), 16th in most shots taken per game (10.4), the bottom of the league in ball possession (41.6%) and 16th in passing accuracy (75.0%).

Prediction

Sitting just three points above the bottom-three, Watford finds themselves in quite a desperate situation. The team needs to win to maintain its chances of staying in the Premier League for another season, but will definitely not have an easy ride in the remaining four fixtures, starting with their home clash against Newcastle United. The Magpies are safe from relegation, having played some cracking soccer lately. Their latest result - a 5-0 beat-down at the hands of Manchester City - aside, the team has been in excellent form, riding a six-game unbeaten streak prior to Wednesday (W3 D3). Newcastle has failed to bag a single road win against Watford in their Premier League history (D3 L2). Still, three draws are nothing to be ashamed of. And while the Hornets are way more desperate for a victory here, their recent record of just two league triumphs in the past 12 EPL matches (W2 D3 L7) does give the Magpies a good chance of snatching at least a point here.

Best bet:

Newcastle Double Chance (Win or Draw) (-125)

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