Neither of these sides have nothing much left to play for with Everton now unlikely to finish in the top six whilst Watford are all but guaranteed safety.
You can tell that Everton’s foot has come off the gas in recent times as they have now failed to win in their last three, losing the latest two. This means they are now five points off 6th spot and with two games out of hand. The Toffees have struggled a lot in the final third of late and have now failed to find the back of the net in any of their last three Premier League matches. This is quite the contrast from a few weeks ago when they scored seven goals in just two games.
You could look at the statistics and say that Everton’s defence has been poor recently with four goals conceded in their last two. However, taking out their 3-0 loss to Chelsea a fortnight or so ago, the Toffees have conceded just two goals in three matches out of the last four.
That aforementioned loss against Chelsea brought Everton’s sublime home run of eight Premier League wins on the spin. As you can see from this run, Ronald Koeman’s men have been sensational at Goodison Park this campaign with their record of 40 points from 18 games the third-best in the top flight.
Watford’s win against relegation-threatened Swansea City a month ago now looks like it was a one off as they have lost their subsequent three games. They are only six points above the drop-zone but they should be okay given there are only a couple of matches left.
Walter Mazzarri’s side have been pretty woeful in both boxes in recent times with no goals scored in their last three and six conceded. Additionally, their overall offensive record of just 37 scored in 35 is the fourth-worst in the division.
The Hornets have had an absolute nightmare on the road in the Premier League this campaign and, as well as losing their last five on the bounce, they have won just once away from home since 16th October, losing 11 of their 14 away matches in all competitions since beating Middlesbrough at the Riverside back in mid-October. It is also worth noting that Watford have lost all but one their away matches against sides currently in the top nine.
Although they have been out of form themselves, I expect Everton to beat a Watford side who have been atrocious on their travels the entire season. ‘Everton to Win & Romelu Lukaku to Score Anytime’ looks the good bet here as Lukaku has scored twice in three games against Watford whilst he has also found the back of the net in all but one of his nine matches at Goodison Park – scoring a total of 13 goals.
West Brom v Chelsea tips can be found here.