Watford vs Coventry Prediction: Leaked messages and a leaky defence

Watford’s home match with Coventry on Saturday afternoon (15:00) may look like your normal Championship encounter, but it’s taken on extra spice this week. The Sky Blues’ head of recruitment Dean Austin was spotted in the stands at Vicarage Road in midweek, and images of his WhatsApp messages with manager Mark Robins were leaked on social media. 

Watford boss Valerien Ismael will be able to pin those messages on the dressing room wall as motivation, with criticism of both him and his side apparent from both parties. Austin is now considering legal action against the person who initially leaked the images, but on the pitch, it has made this game a lot tougher for the Sky Blues. 

With all that taken into consideration, here’s our Watford vs Coventry prediction, with two betting tips to take into account.

Team News

Watford’s Giorgi Chakvetadze came off the bench against Swansea and could be in contention to start here. Ryan Andrews will likely continue at right-back to deputise for the injured Jeremy Ngakia, despite scoring a comical own goal against Swansea.

Meanwhile Coventry City are still without Ben Sheaf and Jamie Allen, and winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is out for the season. It’s forced Robins to switch to a five-at-the-back formation, which has produced differing results over the past two weeks.

Coventry to win @ 6/4

Despite the extra motivation that Watford have been given in the build-up to this one, I’m trying to come at this from a footballing perspective. The Hornets have been on a dismal run, and have just one win in their last 11 matches.

They drew with Swansea in midweek and have only beaten lowly Rotherham United in this woeful run that has put Ismael under real pressure. Now his side sit just seven points from the relegation zone, and they still have to play seven of the top nine teams in the league.

Meanwhile Coventry beat Rotherham 5-0 last time out, but they still have a point to prove after losses to Preston North End and West Brom. However, Robins will hope to see a ruthless display from Haji Wright and Ellis Simms, both of whom have found their feet after difficult starts to the season. I think the Sky Blues will have enough to down Watford.

Ellis Simms to score @ 15/8

Simms has been in excellent form of late. The former Everton striker has now scored eight goals in his last six games, including two hat-tricks against Maidstone United and Rotherham. This should give him huge confidence and his finishing has improved as the season has gone on, but he still needs to prove himself at Championship level.

He also scored against both Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle and is now playing as part of a front two, alongside record-signing Wright. It was only Rotherham, but the two produced some excellent link-up play as the Sky Blues recorded their biggest league win of the campaign. Simms needs to back up that performance with another goal here.

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.