Watford v Brentford: Entertaining encounter forecast for Vicarage Road

Watford v Brentford
Tuesday December 15, 20:00
Sky Sports

Watford pinch the points at Birmingham

A late Troy Deeney penalty was enough for Watford to win a game of few chances at Birmingham on Saturday. Birmingham-born Deeney converted after Stipe Perica was brought down in the area, securing the Hornets' first away day success in six matches to maintain pressure on the Championship's automatic promotion places.

Before the late drama, the match had failed to produce much in terms of goalmouth action, with Watford taking more than an hour to register a first effort on-target. The visitors conjured up just four shots in total but have now lost just once in their past nine with manager Vladimir Ivic also earning Championship manager of the month for November.

Speaking post-match, Ivic said: "Today was tough against a very organised team with lots of players behind the ball and the pitch was hard to play on. But we changed our philosophy and approach in the second half and we created a couple of good chances before the penalty came." Perica, Christian Kabasele and Will Hughes could be recalled here.

Brentford impress at the City Ground

Ivan Toney scored his 15th goal of the season as Brentford moved up to sixth in the Championship with a clinical 3-1 victory over out-of-form Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday. The Bees dominated the first half, taking a 1-0 lead into the break through Henrik Dalsgaard and could easily have been further ahead at the interval.

The hosts improved thereafter but Thomas Frank's team, who are now unbeaten in 11 games, survived the pressure and a late double ensured an emphatic scoreline more in keeping with the way the game played out. Josh Dasilva curled in a sumptuous second after a swift counter-attack and Toney's brilliantly controlled half-volley made the game safe.

The only minor blemish for the Bees was not being able to see out a clean sheet, which would have been the first time they have kept five successive away shutouts in their history. Nevertheless, Frank was satisfied with the display, saying: "I know Nottingham have not had the best season so far, but to come here and win 3-1 is a very strong performance."

Competitive contest awaits

Watford and Brentford have crossed swords just twice over the past 20 years but the Hornets were victories on both occasions, extending an impressive unbeaten streak to 15 games against the Bees that dates back to 1977 (W11-D5-L0). That sample also includes a strong W7-D1-L0 head-to-head return when welcoming Brentford to Hertfordshire.

Few teams have been quite so chalk-and-cheese compared to Watford 2.707/4 in the Championship this term. The Hornets have struggled for consistency on their travels, but Vladimir Ivic's outfit have tended to be rock-solid at Vicarage Road (W7-D1-L0). The hosts boast the division's best home record and have W4-D1-L1 when welcoming top-half rivals.

Brentford 3.1085/40 haven't found the magic formula since moving into their new stadium, however, the Bees have proven to be capable travellers. Only Norwich have earned more points on the road than Brentford and the Londoners haven't been beaten in Championship action since late October (W5-D6-L0). The guests have W1-D4-L1 against the top-half.

Both sides can oblige

Goals have proven to be relatively scare throughout the Championship and both Watford and Brentford have returned negative success rates when viewing Over 2.5 Goals 2.285/4 figures. Collectively, the duo have delivered three or more goals in only 12/36 (33%) collective contests, although that improves to 8/18 (44%) when viewing home/away records.

The pair have scored in 15 of those 18 respective home/away fixtures and with the quality of attacking talent on show this midweek, taking a chance on Both Teams To Score 1.855/6 is advised. Watford have only silenced Rotherham here since September, whilst Brentford have leaked in all three matches against top-eight opposition this season.