Watford were sitting in the playoff places in the EFL Championship, but a recent run of inconsistent results has dropped them into the mid-table. The Hornets are sitting tenth in the league table with 14 wins, 13 draws, and 11 losses. This season, the race for the playoff spots is heating up. As of now, ten teams can make it to the playoffs. Watford are also a part of this group, but their inability to earn points on their travels is hurting their chances. The Hornets are winless in their last five away games, and such results on the road have pushed them away from the top six. We now look at some of the stats from the away matches that show what has gone wrong with Watford’s form.
Poor form on the run
Watford have scored 45 goals in the current season and average 1.34 xG per match. The team averages 1.18 goals per match. The Hornets create 27.42 positional attacks and 1.79 counterattacks to score a goal. Watford players take 10.16 shots per game and have a 36% accuracy rate. These were the overall stats from the current season.
Things have not been the same when looking at the away record. In away matches, Watford have won four, drawn seven, and lost seven games. They have only scored 15 goals at an average of 0.89 goals per match. The xG rate has also dropped to 1.14. The above xG map shows the shots taken in the last nine away games. Watford’s average of shots in away games has dropped to 8.84 per match with a 32.7% accuracy rate. Adding to this, they create 24.26 positional attacks and 1.47 counterattacks on the run. These overall numbers give us a lot of insight into their struggles in the league.
Struggles in defence
Watford’s defence has conceded 40 goals in the current season and averages 1.05 goals per game. They have won 59.8% of their defensive duels and 47.8% of their aerial duels. The defence has kept 18 clean sheets during this period. Watford players intercept the ball 42.13 times per match. Their goalkeeper faces 10.82 shots per match.
In away matches things have once again been different. Watford have conceded 22 goals and averages 1.21 goals per game. The duels win rate is almost the same.
The Hornets face 11.74 shots on their travels and the numbers are high from their overall stats. In the last nine matches, the keeper has made a few saves but has failed to stop the shots on his left. The numbers are high everywhere on travels for the Hornets.
Betting analysis
As per the 1×2 betting odds, Watford’s odds will rise when they are playing away from home. They have also struggled to score and this means that the under lines will thrive.
Watford will look to collect as many points as they can from their remaining away games. They are five points behind the sixth place. The Hornets won’t let this opportunity slip that easily. But they need to focus more on their away form.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
