Watford v West Ham: Difference in class should be a factor in late Saturday game

CHRIS Graham (@chrisgraham79) dips into the Saturday teatime game as West Ham travel to Watford.

Watford v West Ham | Saturday 17:30 | BT Sport 1

When these two sides met in September in the reverse fixture it was a match laden with goals and defensive cock ups. West Ham went 2-0 up before they left their defensive senses in the dressing room and lost the game 4-2.

That result prompted some panic for the Hammers as they’d recently been knocked out of the Europa League by Astra. Things got worse for the club as they lost to West Brom and Southampton heavily in their next two league games and found themselves in the bottom three at the end of September.

West Ham revival

Five months on, calm fills the West Ham air as Slaven Bilic’s side lie 10th in the division and find themselves two points clear of Watford. The Hammers look an archetypal mid-table outfit at the moment and I expect them to put up a show here.

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Watford are in the bottom half of the division and I expect them to stay there despite never fearing relegation. They lost seven games out of 10 between early November and early January but have since regained form of sorts.

Walter Mazzari’s side produced one of the shocks of the season to beat Arsenal on the last day of January but in truth that’s their only standout result in recent months.

Ok, they did beat Burnley at home (who doesn’t) and secured points against struggling Bournemouth and Middlesbrough, but in truth it’s been weeks of treading water for Watford.

Recent form

Looking at West Ham’s recent form they’ve won six of their last 10 league games and while it’s generally been bottom half sides they’ve beaten, they do look more comfortable at the London Stadium and smack of a top half side.

Come the end of the season I wouldn’t be surprised to see West Ham five or so positions above Watford. Since mid-December they’ve taken 19 points out of 30, for Watford it’s just nine.

The Hammers are 2/1 here but I’d be more comfortable backing them at odds against on the Draw No Bet market instead. Quite simply I feel there’s a growing gap between these sides and intend to side with the better one.