Eng. Championship
2011-08-20 - Coventry City vs Watford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Championship
Saturday 20 August 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Coventry City
Coventry City were one of the teams tipped for relegation from this Division and their start will not have inspired their fans that they can make some of the 'experts' eat their words. Injuries are taking their toll and the squad has had to be supplemented by some of the youth players at the club.
Andy Thorn has seen his side lose all 3 League games played this season and they were also defeated in the Carling Cup by Bury. Coventry have only played 1 game at the Ricoh Arena this season but 2 goals scored from their first 4 games does not bode well.
Coventry were beaten on Tuesday night by Crystal Palace when they conceded 2 goals in the 90th minute and beyond to lose 2-1. That was actually their first League goal of the season following a home defeat to Leicester City and an away defeat at Birmingham.
Carl Baker is back from suspension after his sending off on the opening day, but Gary McSheffrey joined a growing number of players on the treatment table. David Bell, Gary Deegan, Clive Platt, Richard Wood, Jordan Clarke, Freddy Eastwood and Ben Turner are all missing.
Watford
Sean Dyche will perhaps be a touch disappointed that Watford have not picked up more points to start this season, but his own expectations for his side may have been put in perspective when they were heavily beaten by West Ham United on Tuesday night to show the difference in class between themselves and the better teams in the Division.
Watford are currently in 22nd position in the table, only 1 better off than Coventry, and they have only picked up 1 point from their opening 3 games this season. However, that point was picked up in their only away game so far when they drew 2-2 at Burnley, although the team did lose a 0-2 lead in that game.
The 2 goals scored at Turf Moor are the only ones Watford have scored in the League and they are missing Danny Graham who was sold to Swansea over the Summer. However, they have deserved more from their visit to Burnley and in their 0-1 home loss to Derby County in a game they dominated.
Chris Iwelumo is a major doubt after picking up a knock against West Ham on Tuesday. Troy Deeney and Gavin Massey are both in contention to replace Iwelumo in the latter fails to pass fit.
Head to Head
Coventry have only lost 1 of their last 4 games against Watford, and picked up 4 points against them last season.
Coventry beat Watford 2-0 here, but they had lost 3 in a row at home against the Hornet before that result.
Watford had won 6 of 7 games against Coventry before last season.
Prediction
The Championship is notoriously a tough Division to make predictions on a weekly basis, but I do like Watford to win this game as the underdog against a Coventry team that is struggling to get 11 fit players out on the pitch.
Coventry have had a tough start to the season, and Watford can take advantage if they put in a similar performance to their first two games this season.
With the amount of injuries in the home dressing room, Watford can win for the 4th time in 5 visits to the Ricoh Arena. The prices seem just about reasonable that they are at least worth a play this week from a tough looking coupon.
The Pick :
Coventry City 0-1 Watford
