Newport County vs Watford Predictions

• Watford’s first three games have seen just three goals
• The Hornets are likely to make wholesale changes here
• The visitors have kept two clean sheets in their first three games

With promotion the aim for Watford, the EFL Cup isn’t likely to pull much focus from the Hornets’ league campaign. They didn’t seem that interested in their 1-1 draw at Oxford in the last round, which they only edged through on penalties.

It’s been a low-scoring start for Watford, who have scored just twice in their opening three games. The talk before the start of the season was all about their attacking options, but things haven’t paved out that way with Andre Gray and Troy Deeney not featuring as they continue to be linked with Premier League sides. Vlad Ivic is likely to send out another rotated side, as he did at Oxford. They started that one with a back five, which doesn’t point to an open game.

Newport won 1-0 against Cambridge in the last round and they will need to keep things tight if they’re to have a chance. However, Watford’s changes and lack of attacking depth means that we don’t expect them to run away with this one. We’re backing under 2.5 goals as our first pick here, while Watford’s two clean sheets in three games has us backing them to win 1-0 at Newport.