Promoted match at the start of the matchday

In the duel of two promoted teams, important points are at stake on Friday evening in the fight to stay in the league. Especially the home side from Brentford can send a real statement to the competition two weeks before Christmas. A win would see the Bees extend their lead over the first relegation spot to ten points.

This will certainly not be a foregone conclusion for coach Thomas Frank’s team, however, as four of the last six meetings between two newcomers have always gone to the away team. Watford have also won at Norwich this season, while Norwich have won at Brentford. Will Friday night’s Brentford vs. Watford match prove to be another prediction for the visitors’ treble?

If recent results are anything to go by, this cannot be ruled out, as the west London club, who started strongly, have won just one of their last eight matches and are in a clear downward spiral. The Hornets, on the other hand, are looking forward to an opponent of their own calibre again after five matches against absolute top teams. An exciting start to matchday 16 in the Premier League is guaranteed.

Brentford – Statistics & current form

17 points have already been collected by Brentford Football Club this season. Twelve of those total points were recorded in the first seven matchdays, when the promoted side was still greeting from seventh place in the standings and was the most positive surprise in the English top flight.

In the meantime, the Bees have been somewhat grounded. They have only managed five points from their last eight games. The only win in the negative series came at home against Everton (1:0). On the other hand, the Danish coach Thomas Frank’s team has slipped down to 13th position with two draws and five defeats.

The Bees have dropped off sharply

The red and whites, who only managed to secure their place in the First Division via the play-offs in the summer, have had massive difficulties defensively of late. In six of the last seven Premier League games, keeper Fernandez had to make at least two saves. Also interesting in this context is the fact that the Bees have been behind at half-time in six of their last eight games. Especially in the first 45 minutes of a match, the promoted team often lacks concentration. Was this also the case on Friday evening?

Meanwhile, the admittedly not necessarily meaningful statistic that Brentford are unbeaten for eight matches that took place on a Friday gives hope for a good result. In addition, the Londoners’ previous 13-match winless streak against the Hornets came to an end last year. Given the below-average home record this season (2-1-4), betting on a home win between Brentford and Watford is still not our first choice.

This is not least due to the tight personnel situation, because with Jorgensen, Ajer, Raja, Fosu-Henry and Dasilva, several players have not been available for some time. Added to this is the very serious absence of Ivan Toney, who has tested positive and will be missing from all corners of the attack. Toney is so far the top scorer for the promoted side with four goals and two assists and could win two home games in a row in the country’s top division for the first time since 1946 (!).

Predicted line-up of Brentford:
Fernandez; Goode, Jansson, Pinnock; Rasmussen, Baptiste, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry; Mbuemo, Wissa

Last matches played by Brentford:

Premier League
12/05 2021 – Leeds 2 – 2 Brentford

12/02 2021 – Tottenham 2 – 0 Brentford

11/28 2021 – Brentford 1 – 0 Everton

11/20 2021 – Newcastle United 3 – 3 Brentford

11/06 2021 – Brentford 1 – 2 Norwich

Watford – Statistics & current form

Arsenal, Manchester United, Leicester City, Chelsea and Manchester City. These are the opponents Watford Football Club had to play against on the last five match days. In the end, the club got three more points than many would have expected. In their 4-1 home win over Manchester United, however, the Hornets benefited primarily from the unrest still prevailing under Rangnick’s predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Nevertheless, Claudio Ranieri’s team must be credited with a performance-based upward trend, because not only did they score a goal in each of the home games against Chelsea (1-2) and Man City (1-3), but the promoted team also took one or two steps forward in terms of football, so that they are now well prepared for the direct duels against the clubs from the bottom of the table.

Watford already with ten goals scored away

The fact that the runners-up of the past Championship season should not be underestimated is shown, among other things, by the fact that they currently occupy twelfth place in the away table. In the entire bottom half of the separate visitors’ table, no team has scored as many goals as the Hornets (ten).

However, their potent and flourishing attack is sometimes at the expense of their defence. The Hornets are the only English first division team still waiting for their first clean sheet of the current season. Under Ranieri, they have already conceded 19 goals, although this figure is of course due to the aforementioned opposition.

The performances shown in combination with the fact that the players from the county 32 kilometres north-west of London do not have to hide from the hosts in terms of quality, leads us to believe that in the Brentford vs. Watford duel, the odds on the lower-placed guest in the table contain the more promising value.

Nicolas Nkoulou, Francisco Sierralta, Peter Etebo, Ismaila Sarr, Kwadwo Baah, Ben Foster and Adam Masina are all missing through injury. At least Emmanuel Dennis and Joshua King are on board. The former is currently in strong form, while the latter has been involved in nine goals (six goals, three assists) in his last nine Premier League away games.

Predicted Watford line-up:
Bachmann; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Rose; Dennis, Cleverley, Kucka, Sissoko, Pedro; King

Last matches played by Watford:

Premier League
12/04 2021 – Watford 1 – 3 Manchester City

12/01 2021 – Watford 1 – 2 Chelsea London

11/28 2021 – Leicester 4 – 2 Watford

11/20 2021 – Watford 4 – 1 Manchester United

11/07 2021 – Arsenal London 1 – 0 Watford

Brentford – Watford Direct Comparison / H2H Record

For the first time ever, the two clubs face each other in the top flight of English football. There have been 15 competitive encounters since 1976, with Watford coming out on top on nine occasions. In pre-season, they drew 1-1 at Vicarage Road in the Championship, while Brentford won the return leg 2-0. To what extent last year’s results will influence Friday night’s action is for everyone to weigh up for themselves.

Brentford – Watford Tip

The promotion tie between Brentford and Watford on Friday night is eagerly awaited. According to the betting odds, the home side has the slight advantage, which is probably due to the table situation. Last year’s third-placed team currently has four points more on its account than the Hornets, who can rely on an interesting statistic:

In four of the last six meetings between two promoted teams, the respective guest won. In 2021/22, too, the away team had the longer breath in both cases. In our eyes, it cannot be ruled out that Ranieri’s side will also have the upper hand at the start of matchday 16, especially as the Bees have not been able to build on their performances from the first games of the season and will also have to do without important players.

We have therefore decided to tip double chance X2 between Brentford and Watford.