After what feels like forever, the Premier League returns as Liverpool and Watford get the weekend’s action underway at Saturday lunchtime. Club football finally resumes after the culmination of the international break, as the stretch to the end of the season begins, as teams look to maximise their potential finishing position in the league. With Liverpool pushing for the title and Watford desperately trying to avoid relegation, both teams enter the most crucial part of the season.
Liverpool come into this game in second position in the league. They have managed to work the gap to top spot down to one point, adding copious amounts of pressure onto Manchester City. With only a handful of games remaining, including a matchup between the two teams at the top, Liverpool will assume that games against opponents such as Watford are must-win fixtures that must not constitute a slip up in any shape or form.
Watford, however, are facing a very different narrative. They are currently in 18th position, which is in the relegation zone. They are two points from safety, but they have played two games more than Everton in 17th. They are also two points clear of Burnley in 19th, but there is a huge threat that Watford can sink further down the table, as Burnley are also two games in hand on Watford. With The Hornets vitally needing to start winning games in an attempt to propel themselves away from the increasing threat of relegation, a fixture against Liverpool will be right at the bottom of their wish-list, as they may struggle against The Reds who are in flying form.
With the reverse fixture earlier on in the season producing a 5-0 win for Liverpool, it wouldn’t be surprising if we see something similar on Saturday, as a struggling Watford side may not have enough momentum in their slight upturn in form to challenge a heavy title favourite.
Have a look at my bet builder selections below, as well as the Cheat Sheet, as we see the Premier League return.
Liverpool v Watford Bet Builder Tips
Mohammed Salah to Score Anytime
Mohammed Salah is going to be fully focused on being successful this season with Liverpool. This is because his national team, Egypt, failed to qualify for the World Cup as they lost to Senegal on penalties. Fired up by rage and disappointment, he will be channelling all of his effort back into his club performances, which is why we may not have seen the best of Salah yet this season, despite the outstanding performances that he has already produced.
It’s fair to say that Salah has been absolutely storming the Premier League this season. With 20 goals in 27 appearances, no player has quite been able to match his consistent elite form, as he has proved to be a gamechanger for Liverpool time and time again. As we enter the business stage of the season, this is where I expect Salah to step up the most. Despite already being the driving force in Liverpool’s title charge, games like this against Watford are where he will exude his quality to cement Liverpool as solid title favourites.
The Egyptian has averaged a total of 4.38 shots per game this season, which is an incredible amount of attacking activity that proves that Salah is the core of Liverpool’s dangerous attacking threat. The high amount of shots per game suggests that he is always trying to test the keeper, and has the confidence that has been built up over the season to always try his luck. Out of these shots, he averages 1.71 on target, which shows that he is consistently a threat towards goal. This increases the chance of him scoring against Watford, as his laser-focus almost guarantees a glorious goalscoring chance.
With Salah scoring 0.8 goals per 90 minutes, this outlines how crucial he is to this Liverpool side, as it is now a rarity if a game goes by with a goal from Salah. Because of his tremendous form, bottled-up anger from the international break and Liverpool’s title chances, I’m expecting him to score against Watford.
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Prediction: Mohammed Salah to Score Anytime
Both Teams to Score – No
The form between the two sides points to the fact that it is most likely that Liverpool will rout Watford, who are struggling for good performances. Despite The Hornets winning last time out against Southampton, it doesn’t seem that they will be able to produce a good enough performance to mount a serious chance against Liverpool, which is why I don’t see them getting on the scoresheet.
In Liverpool’s last ten league games, they have kept clean sheets in eight of those, showing how resilient they are at the back. Their recent defensive record makes Watford’s hopes even more dire, as their upcoming, potential struggles against the Liverpool defence will be heightened with The Reds’ ability to maintain clean sheets. A fixture against Watford will be seen as an ‘easier’ game for Liverpool, as they are about to commence on a hectic run of challenging fixtures. With their recent clean sheet record, this seems like a fixture where this is most likely expected to continue with ease.
Watford have conceded in six of their last eight games, showing their vulnerability at the back. This shows that there is a high chance that Liverpool will be able to get on the scoresheet without too much trouble, whereas I don’t believe that Watford will be able to put the ball in the Liverpool net. Watford have conceded 12 goals in their last five games, including conceding four in a game on two occasions. Their defensive weaknesses will be a threat to them, which is why the reverse fixture result of 5-0 may be a similar story to how this game will go.
To make things worse for Watford, Liverpool only concede an average of 0.5 goals per match at home in the league, reinforcing their defensive abilities. With The Reds scoring an average of 2.64 goals per home game, this adds up to make me believe that these averages will be mirrored against a Watford team that are struggling for results at the bottom of the table.
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Prediction: Both Teams to Score – No
Emmanuel Dennis to be Shown a Card
With all roads leading to a comfortable match for Liverpool, I’ve investigated where the most frustration in the Watford lineup will emanate from, landing on Emmanuel Dennis.
Despite being a shining light in Watford’s attacking talent, Dennis has a reputation for being a bit reckless, and picking up unnecessary yellow cards. His habit of persistent fouling has even led to him picking up a red card for his inability to make a successful tackle. Because of the world class quality that Liverpool possess, this will increase the chances of Dennis being teased, where he can be drawn in to make some fouls.
Dennis has picked up nine yellow cards so far this season, which highlights the true extent of his recurring, untidy tackling attempts. He makes an average of 2.52 fouls per game, which is a large amount for a striker. Coming up against players such as Salah, Diaz, Jota and Firmino whose quality increases the chances of fouls being drawn, its games like these for Dennis which seems that the likelihood that he will pick up a booking will increase.
With Dennis making most of his tackles in the defensive third, this outlines that he is well aware of his defensive abilities and is often required to track back and help out in defence, as Watford sometimes struggle against higher quality Premier League opposition. With Dennis spending a larger amount of time in his defensive third against Liverpool, this heightens the chance of him making a handful of reckless fouls, as persistently fouling to keep out a fast-flowing Liverpool side can land him in some trouble.
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Prediction: Emmanuel Dennis to be Shown a Card
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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Liverpool v Watford Predicted Line-ups
Liverpool predicted XI (4-3-3) : Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Firmino, Jota
Watford predicted XI (4-3-3) : Foster; Femenia, Kabasele, Samir, Kamara; Louza, Sissoko, Kucka; Hernandez, Pedro, Dennis
Liverpool v Watford Cheat Sheet
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
How to watch Liverpool v Watford in the Premier League
📅 When is Liverpool v Watford? / Saturday, 2nd April 2022, 12:30
🏟 Where is Liverpool v Watford? / Anfield (Liverpool)
📺 What TV channel is Liverpool v Watford on? / BT Sport 1
🟨 …And who is the referee for Liverpool v Watford? / Stuart Attwell 🏴
