In-Form Hornets Ready To Sting Championship Leaders

Two promotion contenders, Bournemouth and Watford, meet at Dean Court this Friday night…

Form
Bournemouth still sit atop of the Championship table but two league defeats in three, as well as last weekend’s FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa, spell a disconcerting run of form for the Cherries. This is the first time since Bournemouth have been considered promotion challengers that they have suffered a dip in form and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

Top scorer Callum Wilson has at least remained amongst the goals in recent weeks and has scored two in his last three appearances to move onto 15 for the season. While Eddie Howe’s side remain the top scorers in English league football, despite their recent blip in form, with 57 league goals.

Just behind them on 56 league goals are this Friday’s opponents Watford.

The Hornets have won their last two fixtures scoring 12 goals in the process, including seven second-half goals against Blackpool last weekend, and in doing so have climbed back into a play-off position.

Odion Ighalo scored four against the Championship’s bottom club and now has a staggering seven goals in his last three appearances; he joins Troy Deeney as the club’s top scorer on 11 league goals for the season.

Team News
Eddie Howe made wholesale changes for the FA Cup game at Aston Villa last weekend, making his intentions abundantly clear. Expect a return to a more familiar starting XI here.

Ben Watson joined Watford from Wigan last week and made his debut as a second half substitute against Blackpool, the turnaround in that game may be enough to see him handed a starting berth here.

Head-to-Head
The last two meetings between these teams have ended in 1-1 draws including the game at Vicarage Road in the early part of this season when a late Craig Catchart goal cancelled out Harry Arter’s opener.

The two teams also crossed paths in the Capital One Cup last season when Watford emerged as 2-0 winners, while the Hornets won 6-1 in the game at Vicarage Road earlier in that campaign.

Watford defender Gabrielle Angela has scored three and been shown a red card in three appearances against Bournemouth, while Troy Deeney netted a hat-trick against the Cherries last season.

Recommended Bets
The expectation is that Bournemouth will bounce back from their recent run of poor results and resting players last weekend may prove to be a telling factor. However, at odds of 20/23, I feel that the Championship leaders are slightly too short in the betting against a side in good form and also very much in the promotion mix.

I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to side with Watford to win at odds of 29/10 in the Match Odds but the 10/11 available on Watford or Draw at odds of 10/11 in the Double Chance market is worth a bet. Goals should definitely be expected and Over 2.5 is a suitably short 8/11 shot.

Gabriele Angella has a habit of scoring against Bournemouth and was also on the scoresheet against Blackpool last weekend, and so odds of 40/1 on him scoring first and 19/2 anytime look way too big to ignore.