Brighton and Hove Albion vs Watford. Premier League.
Amex StadiumAttendance29,485.
Aaron Connolly is back in contention for Brighton; Joshua King could make his Watford debut; watch Brighton vs Watford live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday Night Football; kick-off 5.30pm
Saturday 21 August 2021 17:10, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Brighton vs Watford in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm.
Aaron Connolly will be back in contention for Brighton's Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday.
The Republic of Ireland striker missed last weekend's 2-1 win at Burnley due to "personal reasons", but boss Graham Potter has revealed those concerns have been resolved.
Forward Danny Welbeck and full-back Tariq Lamptey remain sidelined with hamstring problems. Defender Joel Veltman will miss out due to self-isolation.
Josh King could be in line for his Watford debut after recovering from the minor groin injury which ruled him out of last weekend's 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
Defender Kiko Femenia is also available after building up his fitness, but midfielder Juraj Kucka is expected to miss out with a thigh injury.
New signing Ozan Tufan is not ready. Striker Joao Pedro (knee) and Nathaniel Chalobah (illness) will again be unavailable, while fellow midfielder Will Hughes is training away from the first team as negotiations over his future continue.
Brighton vs Watford is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
The fascination with Brighton and the betting markets looks to have peaked here. Now, I respect those big staking syndicates that have a decisive say in the way match result markets are priced but to have Graham Potter's men at 4/6 with Sky Bet is just plain silly.
This is a team that have delivered the goods just nine times from 38 matches at home under Potter, averaging just 1.13 points a game in front of their home fans. And not much has changed over the summer in terms of personnel, as shown by their lacklustre performance at Burnley last weekend. A 2-1 win flattered them on their performance for large parts. Without a proven goalscorer, they simply can't be trusted - even against a newly promoted team at home.
And, to boot, a newly promoted team that comes here on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Aston Villa. Since Xisco Munoz was appointed, Watford have now won 19 of their 27 league games and proved that getting yourselves very defensively organised in the Premier League makes you a difficult opponent to overcome. Villa created a non-penalty expected goal figure of just 0.29 last weekend. Watford looked rock solid. I can see them frustrating the hosts here and causing huge problems on the break with the much improved Ismaila Sarr.
SCORE PREDICTION: 0-1
BETTING ANGLE: Watford to win (9/2 with Sky Bet)
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