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Watford Vs. Arsenal: Preview, Prediction, Possible Line-Ups, Betting Odds, And Live Streaming

By Pradeep Nepal
Published on: 18:43 PST, Aug 26, 2016

Competition: Barclays Premier League
Date: 27 August 2016
Game week: 3
Kick off: 3 p.m. BST or 10 a.m. EST
Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium (Watford)

Watford: Team News

Watford have a new boss at the touchline from this campaign with former manager Quique Sanchez Flores departing the club in the summer. New manager Walter Mazzarri has a tough task of getting something from Arsenal, who are themselves desperate to earn a first victory of the 2016-2017 season.

Things could not have been better for Watford when the Hornets started bright in their opening game of the season, scoring through new signing Eteinne Capoue. But Southampton pulled a goal back, which was enough to share the points at St. Mary stadium. The following game against Chelsea was even more frustrating for Watford, as they looked on course to grab all three points. But a late surge from Chelsea saw them hit two goals in the last 10 minutes and Watford slumped to a disappointing defeat. The curse still continued for the Hornets, slumping to a embarrassing 1-2 defeat against Gillingham FC, a third division side in English league.

Mazzarri will not have the option of playing Isacc Success (facial injury), Brice Djadjedje (foot injury), and Rene Gilmartin (Knee injury) against Arsenal.

Warford: Predicted Lineup (4-4-2)

Gomes — Kaboul, Britos, Prodl, Janmaat — Behrami, Capoue, Pereyra, Zuniga — Deeney, Ighalo

Arsenal: Team News

Arsenal will visit Watford in search of the first league win of the season. Both teams are currently in 13th and 14th place in the Premier League table respectively. Although ranks barely matter at this stage of the season, it is true that Arsenal have made an underwhelming start to the new season. It was expected Arsene Wenger’s men would pick up good results and challenge the title rivals right from the start of the season this time. But failure to sign reinforcements, particularly in attack, has jeopardized Arsenal’s chance to win its first league title in 12 years.

It seems the Arsenal manager has recognized the deficiencies in his squad and has opted to splash the cash, with Deportivo striker Lucas Perez likely to grace the Emirates stadium in the coming days, while Germany international Shkodran Mustafi has reportedly arrived from Valencia in a big money move.

As always, Arsenal will have to do without many of their key players in this game. Wenger will be without Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Alex Iwobi (thigh muscle strain), Per Mertesacker (knee), and long term absentee Danny Welbeck (knee).

Arsenal: Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1)

Cech — Bellerin, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal — Xhaka, Coquelin — Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez — Giroud

Watford vs. Arsenal: Head to Head

The home side have a decent record against Arsenal, winning 10 of their last 24 meetings. Arsenal have the edge in terms of victories, winning 13 of the games.

In the last four games between these two teams, Arsenal have emerged as winners in three of them. The only loss came in the FA Cup game in March, in which Watford threw the Gunners out of the competition with a 2-1 victory.

Watford vs. Arsenal: Prediction

Arsenal’s title challenge will virtually be over if they lose against Watford. So you can expect Arsenal to give it their all against the home side. Oliver Giroud will be back for the Gunners, who is, by far, the best striker Arsenal have. Alexis Sanchez’s return to the wing will cause a lot of troubles for the Watford defense, which he couldn’t do playing center forward in the previous game. However, it is certain that Watford, playing at home, will not let Arsenal go without some fight, and they are fancied to score at least a goal against the unconvincing Arsenal defense.

Final Predicted Score: Watford 2- 3 Arsenal

Watford vs. Arsenal: Betting Odds and Tip

(Odds via Paddy Power)

  1. Watford win: 4/1
  2. A Draw: 27/10
  3. Arsenal win: 8/11
  4. Both teams to score: 8/11
  5. Over 2.5 goals: 5/6
  6. Under 2.5 goals: 5/6

Watford vs. Arsenal: Live Streaming

You can enjoy the live streaming of the game online between Arsenal and Watford by clicking here.

If you prefer to listen to the live commentary of the game, click here.

The links will be updated just before the kick off.

[Photo by Matt Dunham/AP Images]

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