Watford v Crystal Palace preview: Palace poised to profit from Watford’s home turf attacking travails

Watford v Crystal Palalce, Sunday, 27/9/15, Vicarage Road, 4pm
Sky Sports 1
Odds: Watford: 17/11, Crystal Palace: 17/10, The Draw: 9/4
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Last Three Meetings:
Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford (neutral venue)
Watford 2-2 Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace 2-3 Watford
2015/16
Watford: DDLLWW
Crystal Palace: WDWLLW
Injured/Doubtful:
Watford: Lloyd Doyley, Joel Ekstrand
Crystal Palace: Joel Ward, Mile Jedinak, Connor Wickham, Marouane Chamakh/Damien Delaney, Scott Dann
Suspended:
Watford: None
Crystal Palace: None
Win, Lose or Draw?
Crystal Palace kicked off this campaign in a similar vein to the one with which they closed the previous edition, relying on a surprisingly splendid away record to bail out the substandard results yielded on the homestead.
A narrow defeat at Tottenham last time came after the Eagles successfully navigated a potentially difficult opening-day trip to Norwich and toppled champions Chelsea on their own patch.
The only points they have to show from a trio of fixtures in front of the faithful, however, are the three they took from Aston Villa, though an 87th-minute winner from Bakary Sako was needed to prevent the spoils being shared.
This being the case, the south Londoners will be eager to climb back aboard the team bus this weekend as they embark on the short journey to Hertfordshire.
Looking at the home ledger of opponents Watford, it’s safe to assume the visitors’ anticipation will heighten another ahead of this trip.
Like Palace, the Hornets have found the going tough on home turf.
Despite not losing and keeping three clean sheets, they’ve managed just one win and as many goals against humdrum adversaries in the shape of West Brom, Southampton and Swansea.
Just how straightforward blunting their sharpest attacking implements has been for visiting sides was underlined in their date with the Saints, where the hosts were unable to muster a shot on target against a team who had leaked five goals in the pair of Premier League games that preceded it.
This bout of homestead toothlessness presents a direct contrast to their travelling form, where Watford have twice scored two goals in three Premier League road games.
Such a difference in attacking fortunes demonstrates the Hornets’ smarts when it comes to exploiting over-adventurousness from their hosts, while also illuminating their lack of a Plan B when their opposition are content with containment.
With two away wins already, Palace clearly haven’t lost their travelling savvy and successfully shutting out a frontline as feeble as Watford’s won’t rank highly on their list of notable recent achievements.
The Eagles’ attack is perfectly geared for a counter-attacking game and it will ensure they reap more rewards here.
Recommended bet: Palace to win @ 17/10
Over/Under?
Watford’s shortcomings in the final third undoubtedly lend favour to a punt on the south side of the 2.5-goal line.
Unsurprisingly, doing so won’t spin much money (under 2.5 goals here pays out at 18/25), so have a go on the odds-against overs offering instead.
A haul of three goals or more at Vicarage Road would see the number witnessed by the terrace regulars quadruple at least, but it’s occurred in two of Palace’s three road games so far.
The five they’ve scored is testament to the threat they present going forward, though their lack of a clean sheet to date suggests the Hornets might actually score too.
Recommended bet: Over 2.5 goals @ 21/20
Who’s going to score?
Wilfried Zaha has a decent record against Watford, breaking the deadlock in two of the five Palace matches he has started against this side.
Crystal-Palace-celebrate-a-Wilfried-Zaha-goal
The England winger has already struck twice across all competitions, opening the scoring once, and weighs in at a sizeable price to do so again.
Recommended bet: Wilfried Zaha to score first
What else should I be betting on?
Palace have notched just one first-half goal on their travels to date, equating to 20% of their total allocation of away-day net rustles.
They may have set the bar low, but it’s one Watford can’t clear when it comes to strikes registered at home, with none plundered prior to the interval so far.
This dearth of first-half goals means only one thing.
Recommended bet: Result at half-time: Draw @ 11/10 (industry-best price)
This article originally appeared on News.Bwin.com