14:00 Sunday

Watford vs Arsenal Stats

  • Watford have seen under 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 6 league games.
  • Arsenal conceded just 1 goal in their last 3 away league games.
  • Arsenal have won 5 of their last 6 meetings with Watford.

Watford vs Arsenal Tips

Betting Tip: Under 2.5 goals

Watford have had a mixed start to life under Roy Hodgson since he took over from Claudio Ranieri. Fans have been far from enthused with his style of play but he has picked up four points from his last three games as head honcho. 

Hodgson has always been a manager who focuses chiefly on strong and rigid defensive structure before all else and it’s been slightly surprising that he’s managed to get a pretty poor quality back four to be much more sturdy and difficult to break down. 

Arsenal have been ticking along nicely under Mikel Arteta and harbour strong hopes of a return to the Champions League. The Gunners have a couple of games in hand on rivals too and Arteta has negotiated games against the lesser lights with relative ease. 

Arsenal are clearly gaining respect from the market recently as well, in the past couple of years they may have been a shade of odds on for a game like this but they’re been chalked up at closer to 1/2 these days.

There’s a nice balance between attack and defence now in their ranks but I’m still wary that Arteta likes to be a bit more risk-averse than the likes of Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola, and with good reason.

Watford will look to stifle Arsenal in the same way they did to Manchester United last week and under the experienced Hodgson you’d have to fancy their chances of making it a tough game for their visitors.

Under 2.5 goals was a regular play when Hodgson was at Crystal Palace and another low scoring encounter could be on the cards again here.  

Under 2.5 goals - 2pts @ 17/20