Watford will be looking to halt a run of three straight Premier League defeats when they head to West London on Friday evening to take on Brentford.
The Hornets are currently 17th in the table, just three points outside of the relegation zone, while Brentford occupy 13th position, four points above their opponents in this match.
Match preview
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All things considered, Brentford will be delighted with their 2021-22 Premier League campaign to date, winning four, drawing five and losing six of their 15 matches to collect 17 points, which has left them in 13th spot.
The Bees are seven points clear of the relegation zone heading into Friday's contest, and another victory would be a huge step in the right direction, as they bid to stay clear of the bottom three this term.
Thomas Frank's side have only lost one of their last four in the Premier League, while they picked up a welcome point away to Leeds United last weekend, with Shandon Baptiste and Sergi Canos netting in a 2-2 draw.
Brentford have actually performed better on their travels than at home this season, with 10 of their 17 points coming away from home, while only Burnley (six) and Norwich City (five) have picked up fewer home points than the Bees during the 2021-22 Premier League season.
Frank's team did beat Watford 2-0 at home in the corresponding match during the 2020-21 Championship campaign, but that was their first victory against the Hornets of any kind since April 1977.
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Watford were so impressive against Manchester United on November 20, running out 4-1 winners over the Red Devils, but they have not been able to build on the result against the 20-time English champions.
Indeed, Claudio Ranieri's side will enter this match off the back of three straight defeats, suffering a 4-2 reverse to Leicester City on November 28 before losing their next two home matches against Chelsea and Manchester City.
The Hornets have actually lost more games (10) than any other team in the Premier League this season, but they are just outside of the relegation zone, collecting 13 points from their 15 matches.
Ranieri's team are just three points ahead of basement side Norwich City, though, and their next two games, away to Brentford and away to Burnley, are huge in the context of their season.
Friday's clash at the Brentford Community Stadium will be the first ever Premier League meeting between these two teams, while it will be just their fifth contest of any kind since January 1998.
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Team News
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Brentford will again be without the services of Mathias Jorgensen, Kristoffer Ajer, David Raya, Tariqe Fosu-Henry and Josh Dasilva through injury, while Canos will miss the contest through suspension.
Ivan Toney is also out for the Bees, having tested positive for coronavirus, so there could be a start in the final third of the field for Yoane Wissa alongside Bryan Mbuemo.
Frank could otherwise name the same side that started against Leeds last time out, with Baptiste again potentially getting the nod in midfield ahead of Frank Onyeka.
As for Watford, Nicolas Nkoulou, Francisco Sierralta, Peter Etebo, Ismaila Sarr, Kwadwo Baah, Ben Foster and Adam Masina are all out through injury, while Ken Sema remains a major doubt.
Ranieri is expected to select close to the same XI that started the home defeat to Man City last time out, with Joao Pedro, Joshua King and Emmanuel Dennis starting in an attacking team.
There could be a change in midfield, though, with Juraj Kucka potentially coming in for Imran Louza to feature alongside Tom Cleverley and Moussa Sissoko.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Goode, Jansson, Pinnock; Rasmussen, Baptiste, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry; Mbuemo, Wissa
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Rose; Dennis, Cleverley, Kucka, Sissoko, Pedro; King
We say: Brentford 2-2 Watford
There should be goals in this contest, with both sides likely to view this match as the ideal chance to put three points on the board. The two teams will again be missing a number of players through injury, and neither defence is particularly secure, so an entertaining 2-2 draw could be on the cards.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brentford win with a probability of 47.27%. A draw had a probability of 26.5% and a win for Watford had a probability of 26.27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brentford win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.07%) and 2-0 (9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.51%), while for a Watford win it was 0-1 (8.63%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Brentford would win this match.
