Watford v Leeds: Hornets to end season in style

3May 2013

England - The Championship

Andy Tongue expects Gianfranco Zola's side to win comfortably to keep their hopes of automatic promotion alive...

Watford v Leeds

Saturday 12:45, Live on Sky Sports Extra

Gianfranco Zola's men know they must win their game and hope that Hull slip up at home to Cardiff to grab that second automatic promotion spot at the death. They did their bit in a tricky looking game at Leicester last Friday night and were duly rewarded when the Tigers crashed to defeat at Barnsley the next day. After a wobble and consecutive defeats at Peterborough and Millwall last month they have shown admirable nerve to regroup and go into the final day of the regular season with a genuine chance of finishing in second place.

Leeds

On paper the Yorkshiremen look the perfect opponents with nothing to play for, inconsistent all season and without an away win in the league since December 1. With their outside hopes of a play-off spot gone they have been beaten in each of their last two games and new boss Brian McDermott can be forgiven for looking ahead to next season and experimenting with his line-up in this game. One man who definitely won't feature is striker El Hadji-Diouf, who received a red card for a gesture he made to Brighton fans in last Saturday's 2-1 defeat.

Half Time/Full Time

As you would expect the home side are short enough at 1.41 for the win and that's not my kind of bet. However, I would expect them to come blasting out of the blocks in the hope of getting an early goal so that news filters through to the KC Stadium and piles even more pressure onto Steve Bruce's men. With that in mind Watford/Watford in the Half Time/Full Time market at 2.08 appeals.

First Goalscorer

Mitaj Vydra grabbed all the goals (and the headlines) earlier in the campaign but it is Troy Deeney who's been on fire with three goals in the last two games, taking his tally for the season to 19, and he can open the scoring here.

Recommended Bets

Back Watford HT/Watford FT @ 2.08

Back Troy Deeney as First Goalscorer at best available price