Watford v Fulham

October 02, 2006 Watford and Fulham meet for what looks set to be a pretty evenly matched Premiership tie at Vicarage Road on Monday evening. Overall, Fulham hold sway in the head-to-head record between the two clubs, winning ten of their 23 encounters in all competitions, Watford prevailing on seven occassions and six ending as a draw.
 
While Watford currently sit just one place above the tail-end Charlies Charlton, it has to be said that Adrian Boothroyd's charges have been making a pretty good fist of it and, despite being winless in their opening six fixtures, Boothroyd, the Premiership's youngest manager at 35, remains upbeat about the Hornets' prospects for the season ahead.
 
The Hertfordshire-based club have earned creditable draws at home against both West Ham and Aston Villa, and they didn't deserve to lose when beaten 2-1 by Man Utd on August 26. The newly promoted side often outplayed their illustrious rivals on that occasion with the triumvirate of Damien Francis, Hameur Bouazza and Marlon King all demonstrating their abundant ability.
 
Fulham finished a respectable twelfth in the Premiership last season, a placing made possible by their solid form at Craven Cottage. However, the Cottagers were, with all due respect, often shambollic on their travels last term. They only won one of their 19 fixtures on rival turf and conceded a total of 37 goals - only Portsmouth leaked more goals away from home in the top flight last season.
 
To their credit, however, Chris Coleman's charges have bounced back from their Annus Horribilis on the opening day of the season when thrashed 5-1 by Man Utd at Old Trafford. In their two most recent away fixtures, the south west London club turned Newcastle over at St James' Park before emerging from White Hart Lane with a creditable point following a stalemate. Coleman's attempts at tightening things up defensively seem to be working.
 
In terms of their squad, Fulham can call on Papa Bouba Diop and Carlos Bocanegra, as both have returned to full fitness after playing through injury in the defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge nine days ago. However, Mark Pembridge, Luis Boa Morte, Jimmy Bullard, Ahmad Elrich, Simon Elliott and Philippe Christanval are all out.
 
Boothroyd is likely to field the same starting 11 which gained a draw away to Wigan in their latest match, meaning that defender Lloyd Doyley and forward Darius Henderson will start on the bench.
 
This isn't the easiest match to predict by any means, but what I am confident about is that things will be extremely tight for the first 45 minutes. As such, expekt's offer of 23/20 about second half in the half with most goals betting is appealing, but even more tempting is the 6/4 available with bet365 about 0-0 in the half time correct score market.
 
Three of Watford's four Premiership goals thus far have been scored after the interval while Fulham are the original last minute dot come side with three of their five goals scored in this competition this season coming within the last ten minutes of the matches in question. But, just in case neither side can break the deadlock after the interval, the half time correct score market looks the way to go.
 
I wouldn't be willing to risk my hard-earned on the actual result of this match, but if I were put on the spot I'd probably side with a draw. Skybet go a best-priced 9/4 about this outcome, which appeals, but the recommended bet looks the safer option for punters in my opinion.
 
 
Verdict: 0-0 in the half time correct score market @ 6/4 (bet365)

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