How much longer will Javi Gracia last at Vicarage Road? Get our Watford betting tips and the latest Watford FC betting specials here.
Watford Tips & Betting Specials 2019/2020
Watford keeper Ben Foster (PA Images)
How much longer will Javi Gracia last at the most trigger-happy club in the country? Get our Watford betting tips and the latest Watford FC betting specials here.
Javi Gracia has been doing a terrific job at Watford and besides keeping them in the top half of the Premier League table for most of last season, he led them to the FA Cup Final.
The Hornets appear to have become properly established in the top flight and although Gracia will know the threat of the sack is never far away given Watford’s recent history, he will hope to push them on again in 2019-20.
Watford Betting Specials
- To win the league – 1000/1
- To win the FA Cup – 40/1
- To win the EFL Cup – 33/1
- To finish in the top six – 25/1
- To finish in the top ten – 5/2
- To stay up – 1/12
- To be relegated – 6/1
- Troy Deeney to be top scorer – 100/1
- Abdoulaye Doucoure to win PFA Player of the Season – 100/1
All odds from Bet365
2018/2019 Season
Apart from a poor end to the campaign when they lost their last four matches, including the FA Cup Final in a 6-0 rout to Manchester City, the latest season was a very positive one for Watford in which they were challenging to be the ‘best of the rest’ outside the top six for much of the time.
An excellent start, in which they won their first five league and cup games, set them up perfectly and although there was not one particular area in which they stood out, it was a generally solid all-round effort from the team in black and yellow.
The Manager
Javi Gracia may always have the feeling that he is living on borrowed time in terms of his job at Vicarage Road, but he is making a very compelling case for being unsackable given how the team have performed since his arrival in January 2018.
The fact he was even briefly linked with the Chelsea job this summer before Frank Lampard’s appointment is testimony to his work with the Hornets, but he will need another strong start this time around after Watford’s decline in form at the end of last term.
The New Arrivals
Watford are the sort of club who believe in keeping things fresh, but there have certainly been no sweeping changes to the squad this summer with incomings few and far between entering the last week of the transfer window.
Experienced defender Craig Dawson should prove to be a good signing from West Brom, while the main target appears to have been Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr and they may well get that deal with Rennes over the line before final knockings.
Gerard Deulofeu in action during a pre-season friendly match (PA Images)
The Key Man
Gerard Deulofeu is one of those players who has promised so much for so long, but Watford appears to be the place where he can finally deliver upon his potential – that certainly appeared to be the case in the second half of last season.
The Spanish playmaker missed the first couple of months of the campaign due to injury, but from February onwards he was flying and almost single-handedly dragged Watford back from the brink of defeat in the FA Cup semi-final against Wolves to prevail in extra time.
Can Javi Gracia inspire a change of tact on the manager front?
You would hope the Watford hierarchy are starting to learn that stability is the key to success, rather than the previous policy whereby it was almost as if they made the football personnel constantly fear for their jobs if they did not produce the goods.
Of course, performances and results are key, but continually chopping and changing the manager only breeds unrest and it appears Gracia has got the Watford ship much more stable than it has been in the recent past.
How can the Hornets keep getting the ball out wide?
‘Keep calm and give it to Deulofeu’ is the sort of T-shirt that could feasibly be on sale around Vicarage Road this term and when the pacy Spaniard cuts inside from out wide, he is an absolute handful for the opposition.
If Deulofeu can continue to be fed the ball by strong midfielders Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue, he is sure to set up plenty of chances for whichever of Troy Deeney and Andre Gray is leading the line – and score a few himself.
Where will Watford finish this season?
10th.
This would represent Watford’s best finish since their promotion to the Premier League in 2015, because they have never ended up in the top half of the table despite occupying a position in the leading 10 for many a month during those four campaigns.
The problem appears to be that once they know relegation is not an issue, their results drop off – but if they did not have one eye on the FA Cup Final last term, they probably would not have slipped down to 11th like they did.
Our Watford bet of the season
A top-10 finish has to be the minimum target for Watford this season. The bookmakers appear not to rate their chances of it, but it does look good value at odds of 11/4.
Get the latest Premier League Predictions, betting tips and more here. Meanwhile, you can back our Daily Double Tips for today’s fixtures here.
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Watford Tips & Betting Specials 2019/2020