Brighton vs Watford Predictions

• Brighton have lost just two of their last 11 Premier League home games.
• The Seagulls have kept seven clean sheets in this run of home games.
• Watford have lost six of their last nine games at Premier League level.

Brighton’s luck finally turns

Brighton became known as one of the unluckiest teams in the Premier League last season and by the third minute in their opener it looked like their poor fortune was set to continue into the 2021/22 season as James Tarkowski fired Burnley ahead in the early stages.

Fortunately for Graham Potter the Seagulls pulled off a comeback in the second half to deservedly win the game, and they have an excellent chance of making it two wins from two when they face newly promoted Watford on Saturday.

Watford in for a difficult evening at the Amex

The Hornets were anything but unlucky in their opener as they stormed to a shock 3-0 lead at home to Aston Villa despite generating just 0.86 xG in the entire game.

Aston Villa pulled two back in the final 20 minutes to make the scoreline more respectable but it was a huge result for the pre-season relegation candidates, although I’m expecting their luck to run out at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Seagulls to scrape the three points

Brighton lost just two of their last 11 Premier League home games last season and even managed a 3-2 win over Manchester City in the penultimate round of fixtures. They kept six clean sheets during this period and only Manchester City and Chelsea conceded fewer xG than the Seagulls last season.

All this points towards a vastly improved campaign for Potter’s side and I expect that to continue on Saturday. Watford’s last spell in the Premier League ended with them losing six of their final eight games and I’m backing them to lose their first game of the 2021/22 term here.

Considering the defensive numbers that Brighton posted last season I think they could be really hard for Watford to break down, too, so I’m opting for a 1-0 correct score prediction.

Brighton predicted lineup: Sanchez; Duffy, Dunk, Webster; March, Alzate, Bissouma, Moder; Trossard, Lallana; Maupay

Watford predicted lineup: Bachmann; Femenia, Cathcart, Troos-Ekong, Masina; Sarr, Cleverley, Etebo, Gosling, Sema; Dennis

• Brighton are unbeaten in their last five Premier League home games
• Nine of the last ten meetings between these teams have featured under 2.5 goals

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