Bristol City v Watford Tips: Oppose goals at Ashton Gate

Bristol City v Watford
Wednesday November 25, 19:45
Sky Sports

Bristol City pinch narrow victory

Bristol City's preparations for Saturday's showdown with Derby were hit by Covid-19 outbreak at the Robins' training ground but Dean Holden's team were still able to squeeze out a 1-0 success at Ashton Gate. A well-worked winner saw Famara Diedhiou smash the ball home with 12 minutes remaining in a match featuring few clear-cut chances.

Victory was Bristol City's third on the spin in the Championship, pushing the Robins to within one point of the second-tier summit, and was built on guts, spirit and application. Holden's outfit had only been allowed two training sessions prior to the contest following up to 17 positive Covid tests at the club during the international break disrupted plans.

Holden said: "To play like that after only one-and-a-half day's training this week was an unbelievable effort by the players. I can't stress too much how well they did in the circumstances. There was concern about the health of many players and staff, but they all responded professionally and the team looked solid and well-organised throughout."

Ivic irked by drab Watford display

Watford supremo Vladimir Ivic said he would have been disappointed with the Hornets' performance in their 1-1 draw with QPR on Saturday even if his side had won the match. The Yellows were unable to build on an early goal and missed out on a chance to climb to the top of the Championship, allowing Rangers to snatch an equaliser late on.

The head coach said his players had played without either energy or passion and that the display was simply not what he expects from his team. Not for the first time this term, Watford put in a frustrating effort away from Vicarage Road and the Serbian said that his team needs to change their attitude if they want to achieve promotion this season.

Injured pair Tom Cleverley and Christian Kabasele were both absent from the Hornets' matchday squad on Saturday and remain doubts, while James Garner dropped to the bench with Nathaniel Chalobah taking his place. Ivic opted to play a front three with Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro pushed further wide and Andre Gray attacking through the centre.

Robins interesting outsiders

Meetings between Bristol City and Watford have tended to be competitive affairs over the past 15 years with the Robins enjoying slight W4-D5-L3 supremacy during league encounters. However, the hosts have tabled only one win in their last 11 home outings here against the Hornets since 1993 (W1-D7-L3). Another draw is a 3.259/4 shot on Wednesday.

Bristol City 3.8014/5 have exceeded expectations to sit inside the Championship's top-six at this early stage, although it's noticeable how Dean Holden's troops have produced their best work against the bottom-half. The Robins have W6-D1-L0 against the lesser lights, compared to W1-D1-L3 against top-eight teams, including W0-D1-L2 at Ashton Gate.

Watford 2.206/5 shipped a solitary strike in their opening five league fixtures (W3-D1-L1) but the Hornets have failed to keep their sheets clean since (W3-D3-L1). On the road, Vladimir Ivic's charges have only overcome rock-bottom Derby (W1-D3-L2), failing to score in half of those matches and managing just three goals in total away from their Vicarage Road base.

Oppose goals at Ashton Gate

The Championship continues to produce low goal totals through 12 rounds of action with only 34% of games posting Over 2.5 Goals 2.285/4 profit as contests have averaged 2.17 goals per-game. That figure falls bang in-line with both Bristol City and Watford's collective average goals per-game figure (2.17) from their combined 24 league fixtures.

Indeed, a bulky 16/24 (67%) of the duos encounters have clicked in the Under 2.5 Goals 1.738/11 column, and those numbers are significantly enforced when we dig into Bristol City and Watford's respective home and away matches. A bulbous 10/12 (83%) home/away contests have landed Under 2.5 Goals with games averaging only 1.67 goals per-game.