Watford vs Brighton – Premier League Match Preview

Dan Tracey August 29, 2017 Leave a comment 1,980 Views

Life under Marco Silva at Watford could not really have got off to a better start with four points from a possible six, with the former Olympiakos and Hull manager still yet to taste defeat while at the helm of his new employers it is a run that he will look to continue this afternoon.

That is because Watford go up against a Brighton side who have found the adjustment to the Premier League as something of a culture shock. It’s been a pair of successive defeats for The Seagulls and that is something that they are going to have to rectify sooner rather than later.

For Watford, it has been two impressive displays so far this season coming both home and away. The opening weekend saw them pick up a point late on against Liverpool at Vicarage Road while last Saturday saw new signings Richarlison and Andre Gray both get on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

The fact that Watford have scored five goals already this season will no doubt be a pleasing sight for Marco Silva, somewhat surprisingly though none of them have been scored by Troy Deeney. Then again the fact that they are not over reliant on the club captain can only be a good thing.

What Brighton would give for someone of Deeney’s goal scoring prowess at this level is pretty obvious, they are yet to find the net in their return to the top flight and have conceded four goals in the process. The opening weekend defeat to Manchester City was something of a free hit, but last week they were simply outclassed by Leicester.

Shinji Okazaki’s opener had an element of fortune as Mathew Ryan should have done better when trying to keep the ball out, the same criticism could be leveled at the Australian for Manchester City’s second the week before when he spilled Lewis Dunk’s albeit powerful header into his own net.

There is no question that Brighton will not work hard this season, Chris Hughton’s teams always do but you do wonder just where exactly the goals will come from during this campaign and were exactly that extra bit of quality in the squad currently is.

This will be another acid test as to how Brighton can perform at this level, another failure to get something on the board this afternoon will only make the task tougher after the international break. They need to get off the mark to show they can hang with the other teams in this division.

Unfortunately for them though I don’t think it is something that is going to happen this afternoon as this vastly improved Watford side under the stewardship of Marco Silva should make it three games unbeaten and seven points from a possible nine. Home win for me and an August to forget for Brighton.

Here is what social media thinks will happen – I think you can still vote