Watford vs Chelsea Predictions

• Chelsea have five wins in six away games in the Premier League.
• All of those wins have been accompanied by clean sheets and they have conceded just once on their travels, in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
• Watford have failed to score in four of their last seven games.
• Reece James has four goals in 10 league appearances.

Chelsea can bounce back at Watford

Chelsea were held to a draw at home by Manchester United at the weekend in what has to be considered as two points dropped but should have an easier time of it at Watford on Wednesday.

The Hornets have put in some big performances this season, beating Everton 5-2 and then United 4-1, but they go into this game after a 4-2 defeat at Leicester over the weekend.

Romelu Lukaku returned for Chelsea with a late appearance from the bench on Sunday after a six-game injury absence. The Belgian could well come back into the starting line-up on Wednesday but even if he does have to settle for a place among the substitutes the Blues should still be able to claim a fairly comfortable win at Vicarage Road.

Chelsea stronger on their travels

Chelsea sit at the top of the Premier League table with 30 points from 13 games and 16 of those have come from their six away games. The Blues have the best defensive record in the league with just five goals conceded and they have only conceded once on their travels, with Liverpool the only side to deny Chelsea a clean sheet and a win away from home as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield at the end of August.

As such, a Chelsea win to nil stands out as the main bet here and Watford’s home form suggests that could be on the cards too. The Hornets have lost three of their six home matches in the Premier League and have failed to score in all three of those defeats, while they have also failed to score in four of their last seven overall.

Chelsea have won each of their last four away games in the Premier League and three of those victories have been 3-0 successes, so another 3-0 win for the visitors looks to have a chance in the correct score market.

James still looks a strong scorer option

I suggested Reece James as a strong anytime scorer option for the game against Manchester United but he didn’t manage to find a way through. However, there were some encouraging signs as the England international nearly grabbed a goal late on and for large periods of the game looked to be the Blues’ main attacking threat. Chelsea probably won’t have too much defending to do at Watford so he is likely to spend most of the game in the visitors’ half, and he continued to look a threat against United when he was switched over to the left by boss Thomas Tuchel. There is a question mark over James’ fitness after Tuchel confirmed he would be assessed ahead of the fixture, but if he does start the 21-year-old looks a good outside option for an anytime goal at around 7/1.

Watford predicted lineup: Bachmann, Ngakia, Cathcart, Troost-Ekong, Rose, Kucka, Sissoko, Tufan, Hernandez, Pedro, King

Chelsea predicted lineup: Mendy, Chalobah, Christensen, Rudiger, James, Jorginho, Barkley, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Lukaku

• Chelsea have won two of their last three Premier League meetings with Watford 3-0
• Four of Watford’s last six Premier League games have featured over 2.5 goals

Spotlight Insights combine the best data and editorial expertise to give you an extra angle.