Relegation-threatened Watford will welcome high-flying Brentford to Vicarage Road for their Premier League battle on Saturday afternoon.
The Hornets have not won on home soil since beating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United 4-1 back in November, while the Bees claimed an impressive 4-1 victory against Chelsea in their most recent away game.
Match preview
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Watford's task of avoiding an immediate drop back down to the Championship has become much tougher, after they were beaten 3-0 at home against Leeds United last weekend.
Goals from Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison condemned the Hornets to their 21st Premier League defeat of the season, and although Roy Hodgson has urged supporters to keep the faith, their defensive frailties are proving to be a major factor in their downfall.
Watford have now conceded 60 goals in the top flight this campaign, only Leeds (68) and Norwich City (63) have conceded more, and they have only kept three clean sheets all season, the fewest of any team in the division.
Hodgson's side remain 19th in the table but a victory for Everton against Manchester United last weekend means that the gap to safety has increased to six points with seven games remaining.
Watford's miserable home form has seen them lose their last nine league games in succession at Vicarage Road, conceding 25 goals in the process. Another defeat on their own turf this weekend would see the Hornets become only the second team in top-flight history to lose 10 consecutive home matches in the same season after Birmingham City back in February 1986.
The Hornets have lost their last two encounters against Brentford, both of which were on the road, but they are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with the Bees on home soil.
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At the beginning of the year, Brentford looked to be edging towards a potential relegation scrap when they suffered eight defeats in nine matches between January 12 and February 26.
However, the Bees have now all but secured their top-flight status for next season as a run of four victories in their last five matches has seen them move up to 13th in the table and 12 points clear of the drop zone.
Thomas Frank's men followed up their impressive 4-1 triumph away at Chelsea with a 2-0 victory on home soil against West Ham United last weekend, with both Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney on the scoresheet.
Toney, in particular, has been in fine form over the last few months, scoring eight goals in his last eight Premier League appearances; only Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane (10) has found the net on more occasions since the turn of the year.
Brentford, who beat Watford 2-1 in the reverse fixture in December, will be looking to win three successive matches in the top flight for the first time since September 1946 when they travel to Vicarage Road, and three points on Saturday could see them climb into the top 10 if other results were to go their way.
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Team News
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Watford will be without winger Cucho Hernandez after he picked up a hamstring injury in the first half against Leeds last weekend.
Emmanuel Dennis is the most likely candidate to replace Hernandez in the starting lineup, joining Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr in attack.
Kiko Femenia, Christian Kabasele, Samir and Hassane Kamara could all continue in the back four, though the likes of Craig Cathcart, Francisco Sierralta and Adam Masina will be hoping to force their way into the first XI.
As for Brentford, midfield duo Frank Onyeka and Josh Dasilva are both ruled out as they continue to recover from respective ankle and hamstring injuries.
Pontus Jansson is doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff after he missed last weekend's win against West Ham due to illness.
Frank opted to select Kristoffer Ajer at right-back in a four-man defence against the Hammers, and the Norwegian could keep his spot should the Bees boss decide to stick with a 4-3-3 formation.
Christian Eriksen is set to continue in centre-midfield and could be joined by Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt, while Toney, Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa are all set to start in attack.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Foster; Femenia, Kabasele, Samir, Kamara; Sissoko, Louza, Kucka; Sarr, Pedro, Dennis
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Jorgensen, Henry; Janelt, Norgaard, Eriksen; Wissa, Toney, Mbeumo
We say: Watford 1-2 Brentford
A few months ago, Watford would have fancied their chances against an out-of-form Brentford side, but the Bees now look a much stronger proposition and they will head into Saturday's clash as the favourites.
The pressure is on the hosts to claim maximum points as they bid to boost their hopes of survival, but we can see the visitors continuing their impressive run of form with another victory.
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Brentford win with a probability of 45.83%. A win for Watford had a probability of 28.31% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Brentford win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.14%) and 0-2 (8.23%). The likeliest Watford win was 1-0 (8.28%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.3%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-2 win for Brentford in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Brentford.
