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Analysing Watford's Premier League run-in - Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City to come

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the fixtures Watford will have to play if the 2019-20 Premier League season resumes.

A brief upturn in results and an incredible 3-0 victory over Liverpool aside, the 2019-20 campaign has not been one to remember for Watford.

The Hornets have spent 25 of the 29 gameweeks in the bottom three of the Premier League, 16 of those as the side occupying bottom place.

However, Nigel Pearson's surprise appointment gave Watford enough of a lift to temporarily propel them out of the relegation zone at the time of the coronavirus-enforced shutdown.

Last season's beaten FA Cup finalists are by no means safe from the drop just yet, though, and have plenty of work to do should the campaign be given the green light to resume.

With that in mind, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Watford's remaining nine fixtures.


Watford boss Nigel Pearson on February 1, 2020© Reuters

Watford were due to host Pearson's former club Leicester City in their next match - a fixture that the Hornets tend to do well in.

Indeed, they have won their last three home top-flight meetings against Leicester and have lost just two of the last 10.

That is the start of a run of winnable home games - the visit of Manchester City aside - with Southampton, Norwich City and Newcastle United next up at Vicarage Road.

The average position of Watford's remaining home opponents is 10th, but they have a pretty underwhelming record in Hertfordshire this term, winning only four out of 14 matches.

Watford's Troy Deeney applauds fans as he celebrates at the end of the match on February 29, 2020© Reuters

They have performed even worse on their travels, though, collecting just 10 points from a possible 45.

The average position of Watford's remaining away opponents - Burnley, Chelsea, West Ham United and Arsenal - is eighth, suggesting that points may be hard to come by.

Taking the results from the nine reverse fixtures into account, Watford are on course to add just five more points to their tally, giving them a total of 32.

That would almost certainly not be enough to keep them in the division, so Pearson will be hoping for a second bounce if he is to achieve his target of survival.


Watford's remaining Premier League fixtures

Leicester City (h)
Burnley (a)
Southampton (h)
Chelsea (a)
Norwich City (h)
Newcastle United (h)
West Ham United (a)
Manchester City (h)
Arsenal (a)

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Written by
Daniel Lewis
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2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


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