Watford vs Millwall Prediction: Hornets can sustain momentum against Millwall

Watford welcome Millwall to Vicarage Road this Saturday, January 17 (12:30pm, Sky Sports+) looking to dispel the bad taste of a 5-1 FA Cup hammering at the hands of Bristol City. Millwall know that bitter sting, having been knocked out of the historic tournament by Burnley by the same scoreline.

Read on for my Watford vs Millwall predictions, bolstered as always by the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Watford welcome back DR Congo pair Mamadou Doumbia and Edo Kayembe after their side was knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations in the quarter-finals by Algeria. 

The only shining moment for the Hornets at Bristol City was Jack Grieves coming off the bench to score on his return from a fractured tibia. Expect the academy product to get more minutes here as he works his way back from a five-month absence.

Rocco Vata is training on grass again after his hamstring injury, but will likely miss out on this game.

Millwall could be without Derek Mazou-Sacko, who came off with ankle trouble in the 5-1 FA Cup defeat to Burnley last weekend. 

Daniel Kelly and Will Smallbone miss out for Alex Neil’s men with hamstring problems. Casper De Norre’s calf injury is expected to keep him out until the end of the month, with a similar prognosis for Benicio Baker’s groin injury. Luke Cundle’s shoulder complaint is expected to sideline the midfielder until February.

Neil also has to compensate for longer-term absentees Massimo Luongo (ACL) and Lukas Jensen (achilles).

Watford vs Millwall Odds

The Hornets are 21/20 to secure a fifth league win on the bounce. Millwall are 11/4 to get the job done on away soil. The draw is marketed at 23/10. 

Luca Kjerrumgaard leads the scorers market at 4/1 to net first and 8/5 to do so at any time. Both teams to score is priced at 5/6.

Today's Football Fixtures

Watford to win and over 2.5 goals @ 21/10

Watford are a team with their tails up. Take out the 5-1 FA Cup defeat (something Millwall also have to contend with) and the yellow-clad club are in unimpeachable form.

The last match between these sides was hardly a goal-fest. The Lions won 1-0 at the Den. But there is goals in this Watford side. Tom Ince bagged three against Birmingham City in their last Championship outing. The son of England legend Paul Ince also bagged in a 3-2 win over Norwich City last month that saw on-song top scorer Kjerrumgaard bag a brace.

As evidenced by their propensity to come back from losing positions, I can see Neil’s side landing a blow or two on Watford before they come alive. Millwall are a quality side and this match between the sixth-placed Hornets and their fifth-placed visitors has huge implications for the play-offs. I reckon that will lead to two sides who were far too open in the FA Cup to exceed the 2.5 goal barrier.

Booking points handicap: Millwall -10 @ 7/4

Sometimes a cliche is a cliche for a reason. While Millwall aren’t the terror dogs of old, they are second behind Birmingham City in the Championship table for booking points. They have averaged 2.19 cards per game this season, racking up 55 yellows and two reds.

In what is a high-stakes game at the Vic, I expect caution to be thrown to the wind with some of the tackles. One Millwall yellow card lifts us past the handicap nicely and I don’t think that will be the end of the referee’s notebook scribbles.

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