Watford resume their assault on the EFL Championship playoff places as they face Bristol City on Boxing Day.
Watford currently sit 7th in the Championship with nine wins, seven draws and seven losses from twenty-three games this season.
The Hornets started the campaign in a pretty unconvincing fashion and looked en route to another underwhelming season, but a good run of recent form has catapulted them up the table to the point they’re now starting to look like a genuine playoff contender.
Valérien Ismaël’s side have lost just two of their last thirteen games, while winning three of their last five, and look like they’re on a very promising trajectory.
Their most recent game saw them claim a very handy 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers away from home, with late goals from Mileta Rajović and Rhys Healey completing a comeback in tough conditions.
The win was hard fought and didn’t come easy but they’ve now registered successive away wins at difficult venues so they’ll come into this game filled with confidence.
Their home form is solid too, having lost just one of their last six on home soil, so they’re looking in very good shape ahead of this game.
A win here could well take them into the playoff places and based on their current shape you’d be hard-pressed to back against them.
Bristol City currently sit 12th in the EFL Championship with nine wins, five draws and nine losses from twenty-three games this season.
The Robins have been almost exactly as expected this season as they sit in mid-table without really threatening to travel too far in either direction.
They’re coming into this game in mixed form having won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five games, but having won their last two on the bounce they’ll be hoping this is the start of a sustained run of form.
Their most recent game saw them come out on top in a 3-2 thriller against Hull City that saw them overturn a 1-2 deficit to take all three points thanks to late goals from Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight.
They’ll have a huge amount of confidence off the back of that dramatic win but the fact they’re winless in their last six games on the road makes it hard to have too much confidence in them here.
For our Watford vs. Bristol City prediction, we’re going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.