Watford vs Ipswich Prediction: Hornets face difficult encounter at Vicarage Road

Watford face a stern examination of their five-game unbeaten run at home on Tuesday night (KO, 19:45), as Championship high-fliers Ipswich Town visit Vicarage Road.

The away side secured a third consecutive victory with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, and they are now just a point behind league leaders Leicester City.

There's an unfamiliar air of positivity over at Watford, too, after a run of just one defeat in their last ten, and the Hornets are now closing in on the play-off places.

Team News

With just two days break between games for both teams, changes could be in the offing on Tuesday.

Tom Ince, Vakoun Issouf Bayo and Matheus Martins are possible inclusions in the starting XI, while Ryan Healey is another option to promote from the bench given his late equaliser in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Southampton. The 29-year-old has not started a game for well over a year due to injury, though, so it remains to be seen just how much fitness he has built up.

Ipswich, meanwhile, have on-loan Chelsea talent Omari Hutchinson waiting in the wings after his goal as a substitute on Saturday.

Fellow loanee Brandon Williams should also be fresh after suspension ruled him out of the weekend trip to Teesside, and midfielder Massimo Luongo will return after missing out for the same reason.

Match Odds

Watford are 9/5 to win at Vicarage Road for a third time in their last four there, with the visitors fancied as 13/10 favourites for the victory. The draw is available at 11/5.

Both team to score is priced at 4/6 and it's 5/6 for over 2.5 goals.

Draw or Ipswich and both teams to score @ 13/10

Ipswich's away record (21 points from 10 games) marks them as the second-most fearsome side on the road behind Leicester (25 points from 10 games), with a defeat to West Brom at The Hawthorns last month the only time they have come away from an opposing ground without a single point.

However, before Saturday, Ipswich hadn't won in their last three away games, drawing to Champions strugglers Rotherham and Birmingham City.

Kieran McKenna's side look to have overcome that dip in form, but Vicarage Road represents one of the toughest away days at the moment, with Watford undefeated there since September.

I think Ipswich have shown themselves to be a superior side to Watford this season but I'm reluctant to fully back the away win. Therefore, to boost the odds, I'm going for both teams to score as well, considering BTTS has landed in five of Watford's last seven at home.

Watford haven't failed to score at home since August 27, while Ipswich have only failed to score in one away game this term.

Ipswich to score in both halves @ 12/5

Conor Chaplin's 36th-minute opener and Omari Hutchinson's second-half effort on Saturday made it 10 Championship games where Ipswich have scored in both halves this season. That's exactly half of their league games, while Watford have conceded in both halves on five occasions this term.

The Hornets have also conceded two apiece in their last couple of home games, both against teams in the bottom half of the table, Norwich City and Millwall.

As the Championship's top scorers, Ipswich should be posing a threat all game, and the odds of them scoring in both halves looks fairly generous given their track record this season.

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