Brentford v Watford predictions: Hornets can sting relegation rivals

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Brentford v Watford in the Premier League on Friday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 8pm Friday

Best bet

Watford draw no bet
1pt 31-20 Betfair, Power

Team news

Brentford
Sergi Canos is suspended, Ivan Toney misses a second successive game while David Raya and Josh Dasilva remain sidelined.

Watford
Christian Kabasele and Ken Sema are pushing to return after layoffs but Adam Masina, Ben Foster, Francisco Sierralta, Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Nkoulou and Peter Etebo are ruled out.

Match preview

Three successive losses have left fourth-bottom Watford three points above the relegation zone but the Hornets can give their survival hopes a huge boost with a win at Brentford.

Watford have not featured in the bottom three at any stage this season yet they are odds-on across the board for an immediate return to the Championship.

Thomas Frank's Brentford are 6-1 to go down and just 4-1 for a top-half finish, but the Bees have been on a poor run, taking just five points from their last eight games, and a loss to Watford would leave them just one point above the Hertfordshire side.

Frank will be aware of the importance of the game and approaches it with a few problems because versatile attacker Sergi Canos is suspended and top scorer Ivan Toney misses out for a second successive game due to a positive Covid-19 test.

Canos adapted to a more advanced role for last Sunday's trip to Leeds and popped up with a well-taken goal in a 2-2 draw.

His loss will be keenly felt but it is Toney's absence which will give Frank the biggest headache.

Yoane Wissa and Marcus Forss are options to join Bryan Mbeumo in attack but Watford will be delighted by the absence of Toney, who scored against them twice in the Championship last season.

Watford are also below full strength in attack due to Ismaila Sarr's ongoing absence with a knee injury.

However, they still carry a substantial threat thanks to dynamic forwards Emmanuel Dennis and Joshua King, who have each scored twice in the last four matches.

Watford did what they often do by changing managers early in the season – swapping Xisco Munoz for Claudio Ranieri – and it remains to be seen whether they made the right call.

The opening two months of Ranieri's reign have featured six defeats and two victories but it was a fiendishly difficult schedule which included home games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City and trips to Arsenal and Leicester.

There were some decent performances against the big guns with Watford demolishing Manchester United 4-1 and suffering a harsh 2-1 defeat to Chelsea and if those standards can be repeated on a fairly regular basis they will have every chance of staying up.

Brentford famously rose to the big occasion when sealing a 3-3 draw with Liverpool in September.

However, more recently they have lost at Burnley and at home to Norwich, and they could be made to suffer by another relegation rival.

Key stat

Brentford have won just one of their last eight league matches.

Inside info

Brentford

Penalty taker Marcus Forss
Free-kick wizard Bryan Mbeumo
Set-piece aerial threat Pontus Jansson
Card magnet Christian Norgaard

Watford

Penalty taker Joshua King
Free-kick wizardJuraj Kucka
Set-piece aerial threatCraig Cathcart
Card magnetEmmanuel Dennis

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