Watford v Newcastle Betting Tips [11 July 2020]

After a disastrous first half of the season during which they remained at the bottom of the table standings for 16 rounds, Watford have gradually inched out of the relegation zone, and are presently ranked 17th. Their next opponents Newcastle United also had a difficult opening half that saw them flirt with relegation, but they have since improved and are now 13th after 34 rounds of matches. 

With just four matches to the end of the season, Watford are not in the clear yet as just four points keep them ahead of Aston Villa and Bournemouth, both on 27 points. The two sides could come to within a point of Watford by the weekend as they take on Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively, in home matches on Thursday.   

The Hornets rallied from behind to beat Norwich 2-1 on Tuesday for their first victory in six league matches, which was preceded by three consecutive defeats. Additionally, this was Watford's second home victory in six matches and the second consecutive match at the venue to end with over 2.5 goals. 

Newcastle will be hoping to put behind the embarassment of a 5-0 defeat at  Manchester City on Wednesday, their biggest loss in 27 league matches since September 2019 when they lost by a similar scoreline at Leicester City. The loss at the Etihad, which was the first defeat for Newcastle in three away matches, quashed the team's overall undefeated run that had been six consecutive league matches.  It was also the first time in six league matches that the Magpies failed to score in a game. However, it became Newcastle's second consecutive away match to end with over 2.5 goals. 

This will be a tough outing for Newcastle, who will be playing a team that is in survival mode, and has held them to 1-1 draws in their last two head to head league games, in addition to beating them in six of nine matches across all competitions. On a similar note, Newcastle have not won at Watford in three Premier League matches and have only been victorious three times in 11 competitive matches at the venue. 
 

Newcastle are safe from relegation but they would fancy finishing the 2019/20 campaign in a better position than the 13th they did last season. With fairly easy opponents between now and their last match, when they meet champions Liverpool, they could come close to a top-ten finish. However, it is more realistic that they will try to finish within the top 12 teams and a win over Watford will set them well on the path to this goal. Watford, on the other hand, have everything to play for in this match as a loss could mean jittery times for them into the final three games, including fixtures against Manchester City and Arsenal. We see the home side coming out strong in the first half, looking for early goals, and then try to defend through the second half. However, Newcastle, who have scored a second half goal in five of their last six matches, will come out with plans of their own and we see them pushing the total scoreline to over 2.5 goals.