Watford vs Bristol City Prediction: Imran, we go again…

Watford earned a precious point at Portman Road in midweek while Bristol City were disappointingly beaten by Blackburn Rovers. The two teams that will hope to make it into the top six in May meet on Friday night (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event) in what should be an exciting encounter at Vicarage Road. 

Below you can find my Watford vs Bristol City predictions featuring team news and more, as we look to secure a decent winner or two. 

Team News

Luca Kjerrumgaard bagged two goals (one rather fortunate) against Middlesbrough and will hope to start here having been on the bench in midweek. Javi Gracia is currently playing a simple 4-4-2 with Vivaldo Semedo and Mamadou Doumbia starting at Portman Road, but I’d expect Kjerrumgaard to get the nod here. 

Rocco Vata is the big miss for the Hornets after his serious hamstring injury, which is set to rule him out for up to three months. After a busy week with little turnaround Watford could rotate slightly, but Imran Louza is the beating heart of this team and registered another goal on Tuesday so will start in midfield again. 

Football Odds

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber is struggling to find points having lost their last two, and he will likely make changes to avoid a zero point week. Scott Twine, Anis Mehmeti and Emil Riis started as the front three once again but failed to score, so Sinclair Armstrong could lead the line while Yu Hirakawa could also feature. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Watford vs Bristol City Odds

Watford are priced at 23/20 to win this game giving them an implied win probability of 47%. They’ve been strong at home, but Bristol City are 12/5 to land an away win with a draw the same price. 

Over 2.5 goals is 10/11, BTTS is 8/11 and Kjerrumgaard is the favourite to score first at 9/2.

Watford to win @ 23/20

I’ve got to back Watford to win this game based on what they’ve shown under Gracia. They look like a different team and they’ve got a hell of a lot of individual talent coming to the fore. The draw at Ipswich showed a resoluteness and spirit that Watford have lacked in recent years, and it also showed a different side to the team that hammered Boro 3-0 at the weekend. 

Louza is arguably the best midfielder in the league, Doumbia and Kjerrumgaard are dangerous up front and Nestory Irankunda is a real problem in the wide areas. I don’t think Bristol City will be able to handle this Watford side right now. Importantly, only Coventry have picked up more home points than the Hornets this season, and although their away form isn’t great - I trust them to get the job done in front of their own fans. 

Imran Louza to score anytime @ 11/4

I backed him to score in midweek at a bigger price of 9/2, but I’m going back in again at a shorter one on Friday night. He opened the scoring at a massive 11/1 at Portman Road, and that’s one of my better picks this season, plus I just really like Louza. 

He’s playing in central midfield but making crashing runs into the box, and he’s also a reliable penalty taker, so we are still getting good value on him to find the net. He’s now scored in four games on the bounce, and he’s got six in 11 Championship outings, so I still believe the odds on offer are too generous. WE GO AGAIN! 

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