Football Results

Two city rivals from London will meet in the last match of the 26th round of English Premier League, where 11th-placed Watford currently has 23 points fewer than fourth-positioned Chelsea. Besides, Watford didn’t win in last five league rounds, while on the other hand the Blues were totally unexpectedly defeated at home in previous round by Bournemouth. Let’s add that their last three head-to-head had ended as Chelsea’s victories.

Watford

Right because of that and being in weak shape at the moment, every Watford fan is very much worried about what can happened in duel with “wounded” Chelsea, which is engaged in fierce battle for positions that lead to the Champions League. On the other hand, Watford is currently positioned around mid-table but has just four points more than teams in the drop zone. It means it will need to significantly improve its form in continuation of season if it wants to avoid survival struggle.

Because of that Watford recently replaced the head coach and now it is Spaniard Garcia, who in his short tenure had lost away to Southampton in the FA Cup and drew away with Stoke in the league when no goals were scored. Garcia has problem with injuries of defenders Femenie, Cathcart, Britos, Kaboul and Wague, and midfielders Cleverly, Hughes and Chalobah, while midfielder Ndong cannot play in this match due to suspension. Ndong is newcomer to Watford, just like forwards Deulofeuo and Lukebakio.

Probable lineups Watford: Karnezis – Mariappa, Prodl, Kabasele, Holebas – Pereyra, Capoue, Doucoure – Deulofeu, Deeney, Richarlison

Chelsea

We have said in the introduction that reigning champions of England were unexpectedly defeated in previous round at home by Bournemouth 3-0, which put position of coach Conte under questioning. On top of it, Chelsea was recently eliminated from the League Cup where it lost in the semi-final to city rival Arsenal, while in the league it won just one match in last four rounds; it drew two and lost one match, and right not it occupies fourth place in the table and has three points fewer than second-positioned Manchester United.

True, two rounds ago they defeated away Brighton by sound 4-0 in the league, while last weekend they routinely won at home Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup. However, in order to be even more competitive in continuation of season Chelsea brought in January defender Emerson, midfielder Barkley and forward Giroud, while the team have left defender Kenedy, and forwards Diego Costa and Batshuayi. Let’s add that on the list of injured players are currently stoppers David Luiz and Christiansen, and forwards Morata and Willian.

Probable lineups Chelsea: Courtois – Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger – Moses, Bakayoko, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso –Hazard – Giroud

Verdict:

Although the reigning champions seem to be in crisis we have nevertheless decided to play here on their victory over Watford, which is also not in the best possible shape, and on top of it lost three previous head-to-head with the Blues.

Pick:  Chelsea wins 1.67 - 67/100 @1XBet