Plymouth Argyle vs Watford Prediction: Stalemate at Home Park

Plymouth Argyle get back into EFL Championship action following the international break with a clash against Watford at Home Park on Friday (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event). The Pilgrims are unbeaten in their last two matches, including a 1-0 home win over Portsmouth.

Wayne Rooney's side have fared better at home than they have away, which is the same for Tom Cleverley's Watford, although one of their latest away trips saw them win 6-2 against Sheffield Wednesday. Read on for my Plymouth Argyle vs Watford prediction, accompanied by match odds and team news.

Plymouth Argyle vs Watford Odds

Plymouth are 15/8, or a 34.8% chance, to take the three points on Friday. Watford are valued at 6/5 to come away with a victory, giving them an implied probability of 45.5%. The draw is on offer at 23/10 (30.3%).

Both teams to score is available at 8/15 and over 2.5 goals can be backed at 4/6.

Watford forward Vakoun Bayo has six goals in the Championship so far, and he is 9/5 to score anytime at Home Park. His teammate Edo Kayembe has five for himself and he is priced at 11/4 to find the back of the net at any stage during this contest.

Football Odds

Team News

Plymouth remain without the services of defender Lewis Gibson and Brendon Galloway due to thigh and ankle injuries respectively. Goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw remains between the sticks as Conor Hazard is still in the treatment room.

Striker Ryan Hardie will be looking to dethrone Michael Obafemi as the starting striker, but Rooney will likely persist with the latter up top. Callum Wright, Morgan Whittaker and Mustapha Bundu are expected to continue in the attacking positions behind the centre-forward.

For Watford, they will welcome back midfielder Moussa Sissoko back from his three-game suspension and he will likely go straight back into the starting lineup, potentially in place of Kayembe or Imran Louza.

Defender Francisco Sierralta is also back in contention after serving a one-match ban of his own and he should return to the back line alongside Ryan Porteous and Mattie Pollock, if the back three is kept in place.

Cleverley is still missing veteran defender Angelo Ogbonna and Tom Dele-Bashiru due to injury, however. Bayo should continue to lead the line for the visitors, and he will likely be supported by Georgian Giorgi Chakvetadze in one of the other attacking spots.

There is constant competition for other spaces, mainly due to system changes, but on the right flank we could see either Ken Sema or Kwadwo Baah. This could also be impacted on whether Cleverley uses three centre-backs, which would mean that Ryan Andrews and Festy Ebosele provide the width as wing-backs.

Draw @ 23/10

Plymouth have been getting much more joy when playing on home soil this season, with just two of their 16 points to date coming away from home. They have lost just once at Home Park in the league, and they have been victorious on four occasions.

Their latest against Portsmouth was an important one, not just because it was a South Coast derby, but because Pompey are one of their many relegation rivals so that result was a massive six-pointer.

Next up for them are the Hornets, who currently occupy sixth spot. Cleverley's side have started the campaign better than many thought they would, but their away form can certainly be improved upon.

Watford have taken maximum points just twice on the road this term in eight attempts. They will have been given a much-needed lift with their six-goal showing at Hillsborough, but that was a strange affair that was very much a game of two halves. They were unable to build on it as they were then beaten 1-0 at Swansea City in the away match that followed, so the Hornets boss has his work cut out to make them stronger on the road.

I don't think we will see them get the same joy that they had in Sheffield again this season, but it still will have impacted the players, who know that they are capable of performing away from Vicarage Road, it's just about finding some consistency.

I'd argue that this fixture will be trickier than both Swansea and Wednesday because of Argyle's home record. They have only been beaten once, and it's clear Rooney's players are more confident when they are inside Home Park.

With that in mind, I think that a draw could be a sensible selection on Friday. Watford aren't used to sharing the spoils, with one stalemate to date, but they will know how tough Argyle are to beat in Devon so you'd think they'd be happy to take a point from this match. Especially when Plymouth have won four of their last five on home soil.

Vakoun Bayo anytime goalscorer @ 9/5

This man will be hoping that he can have as much joy as he did against the Owls as he bagged himself four goals. This saw him match teammate Kayembe's tally for the campaign in the Championship, before surpassing it with the match-winning goal against Oxford United last time out.

Bayo has gained a lot of confidence in the last couple of weeks and he will be key for Watford improving their fortunes away from home. The Ivorian will have a tough task ahead of him as Plymouth's defence has only been breached nine times in seven matches.

There have only been two occasions in which they have conceded more than one goal in a match and they were against Sunderland (two) and Preston North End (three). However, it does highlight that there are lapses in concentration from the Pilgrims at Home Park, and with the form that Bayo is in at the moment, he will be primed to punish them if they make any mistakes.

I'm backing him to claim his seventh goal of the season on Friday.

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