Watford vs Plymouth predictions: Pumped-up Plymouth can avoid Vicarage defeat
- Watford and Plymouth clash for the first time in more than 13 years
- Both teams made winning starts to the new Championship season
- Recommended bet: Tie or Plymouth Double Chance
Plymouth, back in the Championship after a 13-year absence, made it a winning start with a 3-1 win over Huddersfield.
Now comes a far trickier challenge at Watford, the division's very early-season pacesetters following their 4-0 demolition of QPR last Saturday.
Team news
Georgian international Georgi Chakvetadze is pushing for a start for Watford after coming off the bench against QPR. Another new signing, Tom Ince, may have to settle for a place amongst the substitutes having not yet appeared this season.
Mickel Miller is fit to travel with Plymouth while Kaine Kesler-Hayden has recovered from a knock. Brendan Galloway is still an absentee.
New centre-back Julio Pleguezuelo could make his league debut after missing out against Huddersfield due to a ban hung over from his time with Dutch club FC Twente.
The stats
Watford have scored five goals already this season, all coming in the first-half of their two matches.
Argyle, meanwhile, are on a run of eight-straight competitive wins.
In 30 league meetings at Watford these two sides have never yet produced a 0-0 draw.
Predictions
League One champions Plymouth have enjoyed a blistering first week of the season and should be trusted to round it off by avoiding defeat at Vicarage Road.
The feel-good factor that is all around Plymouth following May's title triumph certainly is not showing signs of dissipating, with a 3-1 win over Huddersfield in the league and 2-0 win over Leyton Orient in the League Cup evidence that all is in working order.
Now comes a far sterner test at Watford, major under-achievers last term but re-energised under Valerien Ismael, with nothing but praise for the coach emanating from all corners of the dressing room.
And he could not have asked for more from his new side last Saturday when they got off to a flier against QPR, going a goal ahead within seconds of kicking off and pressing on to win 4-0.
The subsequent loss on penalties to Stevenage in the League Cup would have been a minor irritant to Ismael, but nothing more, given that his job this season is to get the Hornets into the promotion mix.
Ismael is blessed with a deep squad — Tom Ince and Jake Livermore have yet to even start a game, a hint at the options available to the manager — and Vakoun Bayo is up and running with two goals.
They are rightly favourites, rightly odds-on, but Plymouth are nothing if not masters of defying the odds.
Every week last season they were being tipped to wilt under the pressure being applied by mighty Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, yet it was Argyle who went on to land the spoils.
And while they were awesome at Home Park they also did well on their travels, losing only five of their 23 road trips albeit at a level down. They can get something from this assignment making the Tie or Argyle Double Chance bet the way to go.
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