Paul Higham says the main goal threats of Michail Antonio and Emmanuel Dennis are worth backing in a Bet Builder double for Watford v West Ham on Tuesday.
Watford haven’t played since December 10 due to games being postponed with Covid – West Ham haven’t really turned up either for a few weeks having lost their last two games and drawn the third.
This is a classic example of the mess we find ourselves in with Premier League games, as with a host of players in and out of isolation, one team having a lengthy break while the other plays regularly we’ve got so many unknowns thrown into the mix.
What we do know is that historically it’s not usually that close between these two, with the last six all settled by two goals or more, with the Hammers winning four of those and Watford two, and with the circumstances around this game that could well be the way it plays out again.
We also know that the trust levels are incredibly low for backing either of these sides to win at the moment – with Claudio Ranieri’s Hornets losing four on the spin before their break, while the Hammers have just one league win in seven. They’re not stats you want if you’re backing West Ham as short-priced favourites.
Luckily for us here this column isn’t just about the match result so it’s with great delight that we swerve that one and dip into the player markets for something with a bit more confidence and a lot more value.
The only player to start with is Michail Antonio, who came back off Covid isolation with a 45-minute cameo against Southampton that showed just why he’s West Ham’s best goal threat by an absolute mile.
He scored his seventh of the season from three shots with two on target – and scoring his first league goal since October should see the flood gates open, especially against Watford who are leaky at best and also pretty poor at conceding from set pieces.
It’s hard to see a game scenario where Antonio doesn’t score at odds of 2.56/4.
It should be another West Ham man making up our double given they’re favourites, but Watford have been handy going forward if nothing else of late having scored in their last five games and that sits nicely with the Hammers only being able to keep one clean sheet in their last nine league games.
Most, if not all, of Watford’s goal threat has been coming from Emmanuel Dennis of late, who like Antonio has also scored seven league goals this season but has been in much better recent form with goals in four of his last five games.
So if we’re backing Antonio then why not back an in-form and well-rested Dennis, at home, to also find the net at a nice price of 4.03/1 that’s probably worth taking as a single, but we’re throwing him in with Antonio for a gaol scorer Bet Builder double.
Source: Betfair Premier League
