Manchester United will travel to Vicarage Road this weekend to face Watford in what is expected to be an entertaining Premier League tie.
Venue: Vicarage Road (Watford)
Key Statistics
Watford are without a clean sheet in 21 PL matches, that’s their longest ever run without one in the top flight.
They are winless in their last five home games (D1, L4).
Manchester United have kept just one clean sheet in their last 13 games.
They have conceded 17 goals in the league this season – the highest for teams in the top 11 this season.
They have scored 19 goals in the league this season – the fifth-highest number of goals scored in the league.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 20 goals in his last 14 league games against promoted teams.
Head to head
Watford have won just two of their 14 Premier League clashes with Manchester United. Both victories came at Vicarage Road – 3-1 in September 2016 and 2-0 in December 2019.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Watford: L-L-W-L-L
Man United: L-D-W-L-W
Watford
With three losses from four games, Claudio Ranieri’s start to his Watford reign has not gone according to plan.
The Italian was hired in the middle of last month and tasked to pull Watford away from the relegation zone. But four games into his tenure, Watford remain as close to the relegation zone as they were when he took over.
The Hornets are currently occupying 16th place but are just two points ahead of Burnley in 17th.
They come into this tie with two consecutive 1-0 losses to their name – first against Southampton and most recently against Arsenal.
With the league entering into the busy period, they will look to pick up points from this game and give themselves a chance of finishing above the drop.
Meanwhile, Juraj Kucka is suspended for this tie after his red card against Arsenal. Etebo, Kwadwo Baah and Christian Kabasele are all out of this tie with injuries.
Possible Watford starting line-ups
Ben Foster; Ngakia, Cathcart, William Troost-Ekong, Danny Rose; Moussa Sissoko, Tufan; Ismailia Sarr, Tom Cleverley, Dennis; Josh King.
Manchester United
Under pressure boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take his Manchester United side to Vicarage Road in a bid to halt the poor run of form that has seen his side win just one of their last six PL games (D1, L4).
The Red Devils entered the international break sitting in sixth, nine points behind leaders Chelsea.
They were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in their last game and have looked like a team lacking any motivation, leading to their fans turning on them.
With two weeks of rest and reflection during the international break, Solskjaer will be hoping he can get his side quickly running ahead of the Christmas run-in.
A good performance here and a win will ease the pressure on him and perhaps buy him more time in his managerial job.
However, he will play this game without the French duo of Paul Pogba and Rafael Varane who are.out injured while Edinson Cavani and Scott McTominay are also likely to miss this game due to injury.
Possible Manchester United starting line-ups
David de Gea; Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw, Fred, Matic, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Prediction
Watford 1-3 Manchester United
