Chelsea v Watford Betting Preview

Published on May 13th, 2017 2:05 pm EST
Written By: Cian Murray
Chelsea face Watford in a all-London derby on Monday night and there promises to be a carnival atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. The Blues confirmed their status as champions against West Brom on Friday night.

A late goal from Michy Batshuayi was the only goal in that game and they now go into the game against The Hornets under no pressure. Antonio Conte's men can just express themselves as Premier League victors and show why they are as short as 1/4 to win this game.

Watford's own season can be looked at as a relative success - Premier League safety has been confirmed for yet another season. However, their league form has fallen off a cliff since they confirmed that safety.

They have lost their last four games, most recently against Everton. The last game they won was against strugglers Swansea. Chelsea are entirely different proposition than The Swans, so the 10/1 price available for an away win looks fair.

If you think Watford can scrape a draw from this game, you can back that result at a price of 5/1. If you want to hedge your bets slightly, you can back 'Watford to win or the sides to draw' at 3/1.

To be honest, in this market you're probably better off just throwing loads of money on Chelsea as they're very unlikely to drop any points here. Watford have been shocking lately and this is a Chelsea team full of steal and resolve.

Batshuayi is likely to get a start after his heroics on Friday and is priced at 10/3 to continue his good form and get the first goal of the evening.

Diego Costa is at 5/2 to top off his excellent personal form this season with the first goal here, while Eden Hazard is priced at 3/1 to get the first goal. Costa will want to sign off in style before he makes that lucrative move to China, so backing him could be the bet for wise gamblers.

In terms of Watford players, it is difficult to overlook Troy Deeney. The striker is priced at 12/1 to get the first goal and that may be a good price considering Chelsea may not be completely focused - they have just been celebrating winning the league title!

That being said, Watford haven't scored in their last four Premier League games, so you be better off looking elsewhere. Chelsea to win without Watford scoring is priced at evens and may be the bet of the evening.