Friday night’s live Championship action comes from Vicarage Road as 6th place Watford host 16th place Oxford United.
PP football tipster Matthew O’Reagan has plunged right into the markets to find three value picks for a Bet Builder. Let’s get his Watford v Oxford betting tips
Tyler Goodrham to commit 1+ foul
Over 2.5 goals
Dane Scarlett to score
WHEN: Friday 8th November, 8pm
WHERE: RVicarage Road, Watford
TV: Sky Sports Football
After a poor summer that saw Ismael Kone, Wesley Hoedt, and Yaser Asprilla depart the club, alarm bells rang in Hertfordshire. Tom Cleverley was also heading into his first full season as a manager, so many fancied the Hornets as outside contenders for relegation.
However, the 35-year-old is seemingly working miracles with a stricken squad. A 2-6 win at Hillsborough gave Watford confidence heading into the midweek fixture against Swansea, but a feeble performance saw them lose 1-0 in a drab affair.
Still, there is plenty to be confident about at Vicarage Road, and a home game against newly promoted Oxford United starts a winnable stretch of fixtures for Watford.
Oxford United gained promotion through the League One playoffs, beating Peterborough and Bolton on their way to the Championship for the first time in over 25 years.Des Buckingham’s side have got off to a solid start and currently sit 16th in the league, two points clear of the bottom three in a tight and unpredictable Championship.
The U’s have had a decent start defensively and boast the best defensive record in the bottom half of the table.
Tyler Goodrham to commit 1+ foul
Tyler Goodrham has firmly established himself as Oxford United’s poster boy. The academy graduate has made 95 appearances in all competitions across the last two seasons and has started every game in the Championship this year.
The 21-year-old has two goals in 14 games in his debut campaign in the second tier. However, he has also won plaudits for his impressive defensive work rate, winning 1.02 tackles and committing 1.02 fouls per 90.
Goodrham has made at least one foul in seven of his last eight appearances. He should be tasked with dealing with marauding fullback Yaser Larouci, who averages one foul won per game. Every single right-winger except for Willy Gnonto has made a foul against Watford this season.
Over 2.5 goals
Much of the talk after the summer transfer window was the lack of a proven goal-scorer in the Watford ranks. Vakoun Bayo had only scored 16 goals over the past three seasons for them. Kwadwo Baah’s best goalscoring season was in 2021 with Rochdale, where he scored just three times, and Daniel Jebbison has scored just 12 goals in his senior career, with nine of them coming for Burton three years ago.
Still, the Hornets have looked strong in front of goal, with only Sunderland and Norwich scoring more than their 22 goals. The loss of Wesley Hoedt is being felt in the heart of the defence, with only Sheffield Wednesday outside the bottom three conceding more goals than Watford.
Cleverley’s side games have seen an average of 3.14 goals, with a league-high 10/14 seeing over 2.5 goals. The only two home games that failed to see at least three goals were the 1-0 win over Blackburn (3.5 combined xG) and the 1-1 draw with Coventry (4.02 combined xG).
Oxford halted a run of eight games without victory after defeating Hull 1-0 midweek. However, the U’s had drawn five games on this run, so there was no real cause for concern for the promoted team.
Like Watford, Oxofrd have scored the same number of goals as they have conceded (17), with their games averaging just 2.42 goals. However, away-from-home goals tend to flow a bit more, averaging 3.16 compared to the 1.875 at the Kassam Stadium.
Four out of six of their away games have seen over 2.5 goals, while all bar one have seen both teams scoring—except the recent 2-0 loss to table-toppers Sunderland.
Dane Scarlett to score
Dane Scarlett broke through the Tottenham academy with high hopes. Dubbed ‘the next Harry Kane,’ the 20-year-old has so far failed to live up to the expectations of the England and Spurs record goal scorer.
Loans at Portsmouth and Ipswich yielded just six goals, so it was hoped a spell at Oxford would rejuvenate a stagnating career. It has had the desired effect thus far, with Scarlett scoring three goals in his last five appearances.
The England u21 international has found game time hard to come by, starting just three times, but a string of impressive recent performances should see him starting sooner rather than later.
He is averaging 0.82 goals per 90 this season, so looks good value to score again on Friday against a Watford side who kept just two Championship clean sheets so far.
Watford v Oxford betting tips
Tyler Goodrham to commit 1+ foul
Over 2.5 goals
Dane Scarlett to score
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
READ MORE
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO SAFER GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
