Manchester City travel to Vicarage Road to play Watford on Tuesday night. The Cityzens had a slight scare against Bournemouth at the weekend, winning by a slim margin of 3-1.
Watford continued their slide down the Premier League table and the Hornets are now winless in their last four with three of those matches ending in losses. Scoring has suddenly been difficult to find for Javi Gracia’s men. Watford have tallied just one goal in their last four games while conceding seven.
Watford’s home form has been excellent as they have tallied 12 points from 21 possible. However, three of their last four home matches have ended in defeat with Liverpool most recently winning at Vicarage Road, 3-0. Watford were defeated by Leicester at the weekend, 2-0, away from home despite posting a 62 percent possession rate.
Gracia has got to get the team to score goals once more. Midfielder Roberto Pereyra started the season well, but since late October, he has been unable to score or assist a goal. Pereyra has gone four games without contributing to a score and as long as he struggles, the entire team struggles.
Manchester City have the third best points total away from home. Tottenham and Liverpool have posted better away totals than Manchester City’s 14 of 18 points possible. Pep Guardiola’s side has only allowed one goal away from the Etihad while posting a league leading +12-goal difference.
The Cityzens have won six straight meetings with Watford in the Premier League. Guardiola’s side has outscored the Hornets 20-2 in that time while Watford have been guilty of nine yellow cards. Four of their six games have ended in more than 2.5 goals, including each of the last three fixtures. The last two times Manchester City have visited Vicarage Road, they have score five or more goals while keeping back to back away clean sheets.
Guardiola will have one eye on Watford and one on Saturday’s opponent Chelsea. The manager may rotate his squad against the Hornets to keep his star players fresh during the holiday period. Manchester City must continue their juggernaut pace to keep Liverpool from gaining ground. They are just two points ahead of Liverpool following the Reds’ dramatic 96th minute winner against Everton on Sunday.
Watford are in terrible form currently. After starting so well and being the surprise team of the first month, they have regressed. Watford will have difficulty stopping Manchester City even if Guardiola rotates the side. Manchester City will win and more than 2.5 goals can be expected.