Bristol City v Watford predictions: Robins set for routine home win
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- Fewer than four goals have been scored in Bristol City’s last 11 and Watford’s last seven league games
- Bristol Rovers have won seven of their last nine home Championship matches
- Recommended bet: Back Bristol City to win and Under 3.5 goals in the game
Bristol City and Watford will attempt to revive their Championship play-off hopes when they meet head-on at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon.
The Robins’ seven-match unbeaten run ended at Burnley last Saturday when Zian Flemming’s sumptuous free-kick proved to be the only goal of the game.
A bounce-back victory could put them into the top six and Liam Manning’s men will be glad to be back on home turf, where they have won seven of their last nine league games.
Watford begin the weekend four points off the play-off places amid an indifferent run of form that has seen them win only one of their last five contests.
Team news
Nahki Wells could return to the Bristol City side after dropping to the bench against Burnley, where Sinclair Armstrong was preferred up top.
Scott Twine will hope to retain his place in the starting XI ahead of Joe Williams, who he came in for at Burnley, and George Earthy, who has been brought off the bench 24 times this term.
Ross McCrorie returned from an injury lay-off last weekend, but George Tanner (knee), Luke McNally (ACL) and Ayman Benarous (knee) are still long-term casualties.
As for Watford, Tom Cleverley made three changes at Plymouth last week in an attempt to bring something different to the clash but the Hornets failed to score for a third game in five.
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Top scorer Vakoun Bayo was restored to the starting line-up, but the Ivorian failed to take any of his three good chances in the second half.
Cleverley will choose between Bayo and Edo Kayembe to lead the line on Saturday with Jeremy Ngakia and Yasser Larouci pushing for starts in the full-back positions.
Midfielder Kwadwo Baah could make his first start since January after getting half an hour off the bench against Plymouth after two months out with a thigh injury.
The stats
Bristol City have won eight of their last 11 league matches at Ashton Gate (D2 L1) and haven’t conceded more than once in that home run.
The Robins have hit the woodwork 15 times in the Championship this season — level with Norwich for the most occasions.
Anis Mehmeti has scored nine goals at home this season with seven of those strikes coming in his last 10 league starts at Ashton Gate.
Watford have scored the most penalties (seven) in the Championship this season, three more than any other club (Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Stoke - four each).
Prediction
Watford have been frustratingly inconsistent this season. They have won only two of their last 12 away league matches, which were against a Derby side in freefall and a Middlesbrough team experiencing a major blip.
They may be overmatched against a Bristol City side with plenty of winning form at home and a point to prove against the Hornets.
Cleverley’s side pinched all three points at Vicarage Road in November with a 1-0 win secured via their only shot on target in the 90 minutes.
Watford’s keeper made a string of fine saves to keep the scores level beforehand and if the Robins get near that level of performance again they should justify their odds-on quote.
But Manning’s men rarely run away with matches or concede more than once at home, so an additional play of under four goals also looks worthwhile.
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