Watford take on the visitors Birmingham in the round 37 match of English Championship. The match will be played on Tuesday, February 14th at Vicarage Road (Watford).
What many have been waiting for has happened - Slaven Bilic has finally been fired after his time with Watford, where he only lasted one season. His reign shattered the hopes of fans, management, and players who struggled under the Croatian's leadership to return to the Premier League. Despite having the most expensive squad in the Championship, the Hornets are currently only in 11th place with 6 points off the playoffs and significant problems with their attack, although the team still has young and talented performers like Sarr and Joao Pedro who will likely want to leave if they don't make it to the top division. Watford are low-scoring team, despite having the best attack on paper in the league. In 5 of their last 6 matches, the total goals scored was below average, and if we look deeper, we'll see that in 15 out of 18 Championship matches, the total goals scored was below 2.5.
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Birmingham, on the other hand, has not been seriously contending for promotion to the Premier League for a very long time and instead tends to hover between the survival battle and the middle of the table. Currently, the Blues are in 18th place with 42 points, and it is very likely that they will not be relegated this season, especially after defeating Rotherham 2-0, who are also competing for a spot in the league. This increased the gap between them and the relegation zone to 10 points. However, they have had 5 winless matches in a row, including 4 losses, two of which were at home. They are now a typical lower-league team with a suitable style - long passes and reliance on tall players to create a couple of chances per match, which automatically makes them weak in the attacking third of the field.
It will be difficult to determine the winner of this match, as Watford has a new coach who lost his debut match against QPR away with a minimum score. Yes, the hosts play at home and are much more prestigious, but the young Birmingham players should not be underestimated even though they need to improve their finishing ability. They create many chances, but they don't always hit the target. On the other hand, a total goals scored under 2.5 bet is a good option. As previously mentioned, Watford is a low-scoring team with attacking problems, and their total goals scored in 20 matches are below 2. Birmingham can attack, but the Hornets' defense will not allow them to score many goals.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
