Watford vs Sheffield United Betting Tips: Two prop bets for Monday Night Football

The opening weekend of the Championship concludes in the big smoke on Monday evening as recently relegated Watford welcome promotion hopefuls Sheffield United to Vicarage Road at 20:00.

Looking at the squads at their disposal, both sides will have lofty ambitions for the season with the play-offs the benchmark. 

There are plenty of parallels to the hosts current situation to the Blades situation last campaign. Both were relegated with a whimper, each finishing on 23 points. Like Sheffield United did, the Hornets greet the new season with a new supremo. An appointment that looks to bucks the trend of their previously short sighted regime.

Rob Edwards is their 19th appointment across the last decade, fresh from guiding Forest Green to promotion from League Two last season. The new boss is under no illusions that a strong start is a must if he is going to make it past Christmas, Watford are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 season opening league games which bodes well for him. 

Edwards will face his fair share of obstacles, not least the uncertainty surrounding Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaïla Sarr. With the transfer window open for another month, neither could remain Hornets players when Watford head to South Yorkshire to face Rotherham on September, 3rd. And Watford with and without these two players in the XI are two completely different entities. 

Sheffield United faced a similar problem last season regarding Aaron Ramsdale and Sander Berge. The former went to Arsenal and the latter remained at the club and is expected to start alongside Iliman Ndiaye behind Rhian Brewster on Monday.

Sander Berge had a direct hand in ten goals last campaign, scoring six and assisting four, all of which came when he was playing in a more advanced position. Originally he was signed as a holding midfielder but Chris Wilder, Jokanović and now Heckingbottom all think he is better suited to a more attacking role, particularly at Championship level.

For Genk playing in the Champions League and internationally with Norway, his large stature - both of his parents were professional basketball players - and technical ability made him a natural fit for CDM. However, he also has incredible pace and can drive through the lines on the ball, and these attributes were not utilised in a deep position in the second tier.

Under Heckingbottom, Berge started 18 games in more advanced positions during which he bagged five goals (goals per 90 average of 0.28) and registered four assists (assists per 90 of 0.22) giving his prices in the goal scorer and assist markets appeal. 

Based on his Gp90 average, I think anything around 3/1 worth taking for the Norwegian to find the net at Vicarage Road so Unibet’s 15/2 is certainly worth a punt. Betfair also have him at 6/1 to register an assist which is also at least a point too large. 

The allure of these angles hinge on where Berge plays and there is a chance he starts slightly deeper in central midfield which is why I am going to be a little more cautious here and back him to have a shot on target at 11/8 with Bet365. 

In those 18 starts in CAM under Heckingbottom last campaign, Berge averaged 0.72 SoT’s per game with this angle landing in 61% of those fixtures, the odds only suggest there is a 41% chance of this angle landing though. It might be worth shopping around for the best odds as not all bookmakers have this market priced yet.

There is some uncertainty whether it will be Rhys Norrington-Davies or Max Lowe starting at left wing back for the Blades against the Hornets, luckily the only thing that matters for this angle is who they will be opposing; Ismaïla Sarr.

Watford’s live wire is a foul magnet. In their last season in the Championship, only Callum O’Hare (117) drew more fouls than Sarr’s 116 as he won an average of 3.02 per 90 minutes played. Staggeringly, he started 30 games for Watford in the Championship and his direct opponent was booked in eight games meaning he drew a card from over a quarter of his opponents. 

Therefore, if his direct opponent is 3/1 or longer to be carded it should be worth taking. So whether it be RND at 11/4 with Bet365 or Max Lowe at 6/1 with Unibet, it is worth having them to be booked. 

Best of luck if you are backing any of these selections and please remember to gamble responsibly.