Watford vs Sunderland prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-09-16 14:00.
Watford and Sunderland are separated by only one point and find themselves in the Championship top-six running, but the Hornets are still longing for consistency. Yet to display the traits of a side that played top-flight football as recently as last season, Watford fell to a 2-0 loss at Blackburn in the last round meaning they’ve now secured just one win across their last six Championship games (D3, L2).
That result caused boss Rob Edwards to send a defiant message, stating “you can either go under or dig in and find a way to turn it around”, and a return home should lift the spirits given the Hornets have won three of their last four Championship home games (L1). That included a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough which coincided with celebrating 100-years of football at Vicarage Road, and the fans will hope for an extension of those commemorations here.
It will be the first time since February 2005 that Sunderland are facing Watford in the Championship with the visitors looking to make up for their four year second-tier absence. The Black Cats moved into the playoff places as new manager Tony Mowbray kick-started his tenure with two wins in three games (L1), both by a 3-0 scoreline. They are yet to win consecutive games this Championship campaign and injuries to both key strikers cast doubts about their ability to achieve that here, something acknowledged by Mowbray after the last match when he said “it’s not ideal”.
Despite those concerns, Sunderland scored all three goals at Reading after Ellis Simms hobbled off, showing a resilience that would have pleased Mowbray. With the team scoring first going on to win each of Sunderland’s last five away Championship games (W3, L2), landing the first blow could tilt the scales in their favour.
Players to watch: João Pedro has seen his last four goal involvements (G2, A2) come at Vicarage Road while Patrick Roberts struck a brace for Sunderland – his first in any league in more than five years – in their latest win.
Hot stat: There have been under 1.5 first-half goals in five of Sunderland’s last six Championship matches.