Watford vs Norwich City. Premier League.
Vicarage RoadAttendance20,782.
Ismaila Sarr still missing for Watford; Tim Krul unavailable for Norwich; follow Watford vs Norwich live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7pm on Friday night; kick-off 8pm; watch free highlights shortly after full-time on Sky Sports website and app
Friday 21 January 2022 23:56, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Watford vs Norwich in the Premier League on Friday Night Football; kick-off 8pm.
Watford are missing seven players for Friday's visit of fellow Premier League strugglers Norwich, with five-goal attacker Ismaila Sarr still in Spain for treatment on a knee injury.
The Senegal international has been sidelined since November but went to Barcelona recently to continue his recovery programme with an anticipated return pencilled in for next month.
Hornets boss Claudio Ranieri remains without Peter Etebo (hamstring), Kwadwo Baah (foot) and Nicolas Nkoulou (hamstring) while Imran Louza, Adam Masina and William Troost-Ekong are still absent due to their Africa Cup of Nations commitments.
Norwich will be without goalkeeper Tim Krul because of a shoulder problem suffered late on in the win over Everton, so Angus Gunn is set to deputise.
The Canaries have no other fresh injury concerns, with full-backs Max Aarons and Brandon Williams both recovered after being forced off against Everton while midfielder Kenny McLean is back available following his Covid-19 issues.
Mathias Normann (pelvis), Billy Gilmour (ankle), Lukas Rupp (hamstring), Andrew Omobamidele (back) and Christoph Zimmermann (ankle) all continue their recovery.
Watford vs Norwich will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 7pm; kick-off 8pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
Is this really the start of the great escape for Norwich? Or did they bump into the perfect opponent at the perfect time in the shape of a sorry excuse of an Everton performance?
My head is telling me to trust the longer-term data and back them to get beaten at Vicarage Road in what is shaping up to be a nervy, low-scoring encounter. Despite scoring twice vs Everton, Norwich are still the lowest scorers in all four divisions of English league football this season (10 goals) and have the worst defensive record in the Premier League this season (45 conceded).
Watford are likely to join Norwich back in the Sky Bet Championship next season but possess far greater quality in the final third in Emmanuel Dennis and Joao Pedro, which makes them backable at 21/20 with Sky Bet.
And, although early days, Watford's transfer activity over the last fortnight to sign Hassane Kamara from Nice, Samir from Udinese and Edo Kayembe from KAS Eupen in Belgium did seem to add more steel to their performance during the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. A first clean sheet of the season is on the horizon.
Such is Norwich's lack of goal threat - they have scored just three goals on the road this season - backing the game to finish under the 2.5 goal line looks a sensible ploy. Relegation battle scenarios such as this have a tendency to be low-scoring.
The last eight fixtures between teams in 20th and 17th in the Premier League in the last five years, when the fixture has come after November 29, have all produced less than 2.5 goals, including Newcastle vs Norwich, Newcastle vs Burnley and Newcastle vs Watford this season.
In fact, if you collate all such fixtures to fall into that category in the last five years to happen after January 1, the average goals per game average is 2.1, way below the normal average for a Premier League game which stands at 2.9 goals this season.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-0
BETTING ANGLE: Watford to win and under 2.5 goals (4/1 with Sky Bet)
