We have plenty of third round FA Cup ties to look forward to on the weekend including the meeting between Manchester United and Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday the 9th of January.
Manchester United come into this game sitting second in the Premier League while Watford are currently in 6th place in the Championship and hoping to win promotion this season.
💫 𝟳 𝗜 𝗡 𝗖 𝗞 𝗘 𝗥 𝗡 𝗔 𝗚 𝗘 𝗟 💫 pic.twitter.com/Z30hw3K5Rk— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) January 6, 2021
💫 𝟳 𝗜 𝗡 𝗖 𝗞 𝗘 𝗥 𝗡 𝗔 𝗚 𝗘 𝗟 💫 pic.twitter.com/Z30hw3K5Rk
Manchester United come into the game having lost 2-0 at home against Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday night. The Red Devils will be disappointed with the result having conceded both goals from set pieces. They also had opportunities to score themselves but failed to take them.
That result was the first defeat for Manchester United in their last 8 matches in all competitions. There have been wins over Sheffield United, Leeds United, Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Aston Villa.
Trends show Manchester United are undefeated in 4 of their last 5 home games in all competitions. Their home record in the FA Cup is particularly good and Manchester United have won each of their last 7 home matches in the competition.
They have managed to keep 6 cleans sheets in those 7 games and score 2 or more goals in the same number of matches.
Watford travel north having lost 2-1 at Swansea City in the championship last weekend. It was a disappointing result for the Hornets who took an early lead in the match against the team currently above them in the league.
An equaliser just before half time and a goal 22 minutes into the second half were enough to see Watford lose the match.
That result means Watford have won 3 of their last 8 games, with the 3 wins coming against Rotherham United, Birmingham City, and Norwich City in the Championship.
Away form shows Watford have lost each of their last 2 games on the road and have picked up just a single victory in their last 8 away matches, all of which have been in the Championship.
Trends show Watford have been struggling to score goals away from home and they have found the back of the net just twice in their last 5 away matches. However, they have managed to keep 3 clean sheets in those 5 games.
Team news and Manchester United will be without striker Edinson Cavani who is suspended. Eric Bailly, Juan Mata, Mason Greenwood, Jesse Lingard, Daniel James, Alex Telles, Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe and Donny van de Beek could all start.
Watford have several players potentially unavailable for this game including Christian Kabasele, João Pedro, Domingos Quina, Craig Cathcart, Tom Dele-Bashiru, and Isaac Success.
Even if Manchester knighted choose to field a different starting XI to that which has been playing recently, they should still have enough to win this match. The victory may not be by a huge margin but expect to see the hosts keep a clean sheet.