Two teams that are expected to fight in the middle of the Premier League table will begin their season on Saturday when Watford will play host to Brighton. Both sides finished at the bottom half of the league table last season, but they were both somewhat reinforced in the transfer window. Let’s take a look at this match that will be one of the first of the new season in the Premier League.
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Watford actually made a great start in the season last year, but things took a turn for the worse when they sacked the coach, Marco Silva. Javi Gracia who came to replace him was not very successful, and his own record was 4-8-3. Watford eventually finished at the 14th spot of the league table with 41 points, eight ahead of the relegation zone. They scored just 44 goals last season and featured the 2nd worst defense with 64 conceded. They were mediocre at home (7-6-6), but struggled a lot of the road (4-13-2). Watford scored just 17 goals on the road while conceding 33 in the process. Watford sold one of their best players to Everton over the summer, winger Richarlison. They did spend some good amounts to pull even, bringing in goalkeeper Ben Foster from West Brom and signing forward Deulofeu on a permanent contract.
Brighton was one of the most compact teams last season, surely out of those who were trying to avoid the relegation. They eventually finished at the 15th spot of the Premier League with 40 points, seven clear off the relegation zone. They had sever troubles in scoring with just 34 goals and conceded a lot as well (54). However, they were really prone to matches with Under 2.5 goals, as 25 of their 38 games featured that statistic. Brighton had the worst away record in the Premier League (2-12-5), but they were pretty decent at home (7-4-8). They were really active in the transfer window, as they bought 9 players and sold 10. The best acquisitions were those of winger Jahanbakhsh (led the scoring in the Dutch Eredivisie last season), midfielder Bissouma and wing back Bernardo.
