After the disappointment of last season, where Chelsea FC, as the defending champions, finished 10th in the English Premier League, with all their big guns failing to show form, the blues returning to the very top of the league is indeed poetic. With the new coach Antonio Conte ripping up the books and starting afresh, Chelsea has stormed through the league, and has now been mathematically confirmed as the new champions. Now as they prepare to host the Watford FC in a missed fixture of Round 28, they can afford some squad rotation and give fringe players a chance, whereas the visitors would hope to put an end to a league losing streak, by snatching points from the league Champions.
CHELSEA FC vs. WATFORD FC
3-Way: 1: CHELSEA FC -303; X: +559 Draw; 2: WATFORD FC +1200
Spread -1.5: CHELSEA FC -127; WATFORD FC +123
Total +3.5: Over +123; Under -132
CHELSEA FC
With a wonderful season almost coming to an end, Chelsea can afford to sit back, give some rest to their regular 11, and have chance of some squad rotation. Italian manager Antonio Conte has been a total revelation this season. With his passion, careful approach in front of media, and a genius tactical mind, he has managed to mastermind Chelsea’s performances from mid-table finish to Champions, as they were two years ago. With their strong defensive shape and rapid attacks, Chelsea has grabbed maximum points from most of the matches this season.
With 36 matches played so far, the Blues have managed to pick up 87 points, and are on course to cross the 90 points mark. 45 of those points have come at home, showing their formidable form at Stamford Bridge. Their current league record is 5-0-1, with wins in their last 6 league matches. Two weeks ago, Chelsea triumphed over Middlesbrough with 3:0 at home to relegate them, which was followed by an extremely tough game away at West Brom last Friday. The Blues were incapable of breaking through the extremely well set Baggies defensive line, until rarely used substitute Michy Batshuayi scored an 82nd minute winner to seal their status as the English Premier league winners.
The effectiveness of the Chelsea attackers is made clear from the fact that the Blues have won 6 matches in the league with the score line being 3:0.
They have been absolutely ruthless in attack, as star players Hazard and Costa are back to their destructive best. They have scored 74 goals in the English Premier league, which is the highest among all the teams. 46 of those goals have come at home. Not just the attack, but manager Conte has brought his defensive acumen in creating a solid backline for his team. The Blues have conceded only 29 goals in the league, with only 13 being conceded at home. They have managed to keep 16 clean sheets so far, again the highest in the league.
Perhaps the best thing about this Chelsea squad is the fact that almost all the players in the squad are in great form. Star striker Diego Costa has scored 20 goals in the league, bettered only by three other players, while also contributing to 6 assists. Next in the line for the blues is their Belgian winger Eden Hazard, who has recovered from a horrible last season to score 15 goals and give 5 assists for the blues the league so far. When it comes to assists, Spanish playmaker Cesc Fabregas has made 11 of them, which is very impressive considering he has started less than half of the league games for Chelsea. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is leading the Golden Glove race with a massive 16 clean sheets to his name. The Blues have no injury concerns.
WATFORD FC
Even though the Hornets have managed to ensure survival in the English Premier league for the next season, it has been a poor season for them. After finishing a decent 13th position after their return to the English Premier league last season, the fans would have been hoping for a better finish. However, poor form of players who had been shining last season meant that the Hornets just about scrapped their way to survival. As the season comes to a close, Watford will have a chance to finish as high as 11th, due to the negligible gap between teams right above them, if all the results go in their favor. However, an away match against the league winners Chelsea isn’t really the best thing they could have hoped for.
Sitting in the 16th position, just two places above relegation spots, Watford have accrued 40 points this season. 28 of those points have come at home, clearly indicating towards a weaker away form when compared to results at the Vicarage Road Stadium. The Hornets are currently in a horrible run of form. Their current league record reads 1-0-5, and they are on a four match losing streak. Their last match was an away 1:0 loss to Everton, before which they were thrashed by last year’s champions Leicester City by 3:0 at the King Power Stadium. The nature of their poor season is made clearer after the fact that they have been defeated by scores of 0:1 and 0:2 five times each this season.
The Hornets have been below average when it comes to striking department. They have managed to score just 37 goals in the English Premier League this season, with only 4 other teams scoring less. As the season has progressed, their attacking approach has been better at times, still they struggle to score goals, as their recent results show. They haven’t been much better when it comes to defense. They have conceded a massive 59 goals in the league, with 35 of them being conceded at home. They have managed to keep a total of 7 clean sheets in the league.
With their captain Troy Deeney struggling to perform in the early stages of the season, it was clear that it won’t be another decent season in terms of scoring. Still, he is the top scorer for the Hornets with 10 goals, along with 4 assists in the league. Following him is former Spurs midfielder Etienne Capoue. After being moved to an advanced position in a long time in his career, he had shown great early season form in terms of scoring goals, with a couple of beautiful scored along the way. He has 6 goals to his name, along with a solitary assist. Greek defender Jose Holebas has provided 4 assists for the team, and also scored 2 goals.
The Hornets have many injury concerns. Keeper Huerelho Gomes (unknown), midfielders Tom Cleverly, and Abdoulaye Doucoure both are in doubt due to muscle strains. Defenders Younes Kaboul (hamstring), Craig Cathcart (knee) and Miguel Britos (calf) are also major doubts. Their biggest miss will be Former Juventus forward Roberto Peryera, who is out for the season with a Meniscus injury, along with striker Mauro Zarate.
CHELSEA FC vs. WATFORD FC MATCH PREDICTION
It is easy to sense a feeling of relaxation and maybe, complacency from the league leaders, as they now can sit back and enjoy as they have been confirmed as the English Premier league winners.
However, Coach Antonio Conte who is known for his devotion and utmost focus for every match will make sure that his team do not lose focus and stay in shape, as the FA cup final against London rivals Arsenal is also looming on the horizon. We surely can expect a few changes to the starting lineup, with Conte giving a chance to his fringe players maybe, with club captain John Terry in particular, who will be leaving his club after losing out his first team spot in the 3-man backline.
The Blues should be able to win this one with ease, but my bet would be to go with the over 3.5 goals as this game has no significant importance to either team. A possibility of both teams scoring at least one goal is very high, so I will go with that as well!!!
MY PICK: Over 3.5 goals (+123)
Additional Pick: Both teams to score YES (-108)
