Free betting tips and match preview: Sky Bet Championship - Watford v Middlesbrough
The 2020/21 Sky Bet Championship season gets underway on Friday as Watford welcome Middlesbrough. Tom Carnduff picks out two best bets.
Recommended bets
1pt Tom Dele-Bashiru to score anytime at 12/1
1pt Domingos Quina to score anytime at 11/2
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Watford v Middlesbrough
- 19:45 BST - Sky Sports Football
Watford are battling Norwich and Brentford for the favourites tag this season, and they will be targeting the perfect start as they aim to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The managerial merry-go-round at Vicarage Road has taken them to Vladimir Ivic. He won the Israeli Premier League in consecutive seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Watford will be hoping that he can bring success to them - starting with a contest against Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough.
Ivic is already making his presence felt. Goalkeeper Ben Foster told the Guardian recently: "He is very direct and very happy to pull people up on things if they’re not working hard enough. He has been running the lads like dogs. Every single day they are crawling off the pitch, knackered."
Will that demanding style pay off? Only time will tell, but it could mean that they are better prepared for the beginning of the season than most. The Asian Handicap having the hosts at -0.5 suggests that the money fancies them to make a good start. It's why they floating around the even money mark for a win on opening day.
The starting line-up for Watford is the subject of speculation with some uncertainty surrounding how they will approach the game given the new manager. We do know that Andre Gray won't be involved, while Ismaila Sarr and Troy Deeney are also doubts for Friday's contest.
Glenn Murray could be given a start following his summer switch from Brighton but there is value available in gambling on a goal to come from the attacking midfield area; Tom Dele-Bashiru and Domingos Quina do look overpriced for a goal if they are lining up in a more advanced position.
They both played behind Gray in a pre-season victory over Tottenham last week and, even if it was a friendly, Ivic may have seen enough there to convince him to stick with that duo for the game against Middlesbrough. Quina got on the scoresheet against Spurs and will be looking for another in competitive action. He is 11/2 to net anytime here while Dele-Bashiru's price fluctuates, although best odds of 12/1 is too tempting to turn down.
An excellent clip from that game was how Watford swarmed back to defend from an attack of their own. Tottenham's attempted long ball forward was met by a host of yellow and black shirts surrounding the player in possession. Maybe that's a good indicator of the intensity Watford will play with in both attack and defence.
Neither Dele-Bashiru or Quina played much in the Premier League but a return to the Championship provides both players with an ideal stage to become regular members of the first team squad. We can only really base a starting line-up opinion on that friendly but both are seemingly trusted by their new head coach.
Quina even pushed up alongside Gray out of possession to become a second striker, that may well be key on the counter attack. Watford's off-season has been promising and they can be a side who 'reset' in the Championship so the even money on a win looks good value against Middlesbrough. However, the better prices can be found in the goalscorer market and backing Dele-Bashiru and Quina to net if they line-up in advanced positions once again.
Score prediction: Watford 2-0 Middlesbrough (Sky Bet odds: 8/1)
Best bet: Tom Dele-Bashiru to score anytime at 12/1
Best bet: Domingos Quina to score anytime at 11/2
Opta facts
- This will be Watford and Middlesbrough’s first league meeting since January 2017 in the Premier League, when the two sides played out a goalless draw.
- Watford are unbeaten in seven league matches against Middlesbrough (W4 D3) since a 1-2 loss at Vicarage Road in the Championship in October 2012.
- In the Championship, Watford are unbeaten in their last eight opening day fixtures (W5 D3), winning each of their last three such games. Their last MD1 defeat in the division came back in the 2005-06 campaign at home to Preston (1-2).
- Middlesbrough have won just one of their last 11 games on the opening matchday of a league season (D6 L4), and are winless in five MD1 fixtures (D4 L1) since a 2-0 win over Birmingham in 2014-15.
- Middlesbrough will be the 12th different side that Neil Warnock has started a Football League season with. Warnock has lost three of his last five league games on matchday one (W2), including losing the last two with Cardiff.
Odds correct at 1630 BST (10/09/20)
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