Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
New Watford coach Quique Sanchez Flores takes charge of the club for the first time since returning to his old job recently. He will be looking to help the club achieve its first league win of the season, but will have to do without Craig Cathcart and Troy Deeney, who are both injured. The Hornets are aiming to avoid losing the first three home matches of a season for the first time since 1991/92.
Unai Emery’s Arsenal team will head into the game with plenty of confidence, having won their last three Premier League games against Watford without having conceded a single goal. The Gunners will be without Alexandre Lacazette, who is out of action until October with an ankle problem.
Watford vs Arsenal Prediction: Hornets 1-2 Gunners
Our prediction for this game is that Arsenal will win the game 2-1. While the Hornets may get something of a bounce from the return of Sanchez Flores, Arsenal will be up for this game, and will want to get back to winning ways after their recent loss to Liverpool and draw with Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners have a fine recent record against the Hornets, and will surely feel very confident about travelling to Vicarage Road. Watford may score first, though, especially given that they have a new manager. The Gunners will prevail in the end, though.
Our recommended tip: [two to three words describing the tip]
Our featured tip for this game comes from Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, who is offering odds of 7/1 on our prediction of a 2-1 win for the Gunners turning out to be accurate. Those odds represent pretty good value, given that the bookies have made the north London outfit strong favourites to win this game. It is hard to find good value when backing Arsenal in this game, but odds of 7/1 should offer decent returns to astute punters. Arsenal have not lost to Watford for a very long time and we expect that trend to continue.
Previous matches
These two sides have met on 12 previous occasions in the Premier League. Out of those 12 games, Watford have won just twice, once at home and once away. Arsenal have 10 games, five at home and five away. These two sides have never drawn in the Premier League.
The Gunners have won the last three league meetings between the teams without conceding a goal, a stat which would not appear to give the Hornets much of a chance, at least on paper. Last season, Arsenal won 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium and 1-0 at Vicarage Road in the two Premier League encounters.
Top 3 Premier League Bookies
Players to watch: Andre Gray & Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
If Watford are to have any chance at all of a positive result then they will need English forward Andre Gray to play well. The Hornets have not won yet this season, and have found scoring goals a real problem, having found the net just twice in their four games so far this season. Gray has one of those goals to his name. Out of his seven shots in the Premier League so far, just two have been on target.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal of the game in the Gunners’ win at Vicarage Road last season. He has been involved in 44 Premier League goals since making his debut in February 2018. He has scored 35 goals and provided nine assists for his team mates during that period. Only Liverpool’s Mo Salah has been involved in more goals during that period, contributing to 52. Aubameyang has scored three Premier League goals already this season.
