The Hornet Still Stings: Watford Can Spoil Manchester City's Premier League Run

Manchester City vs Watford

If you’re a casual football fan, you would think that the Premier League has finally returned to normality. Manchester City have returned to the top of the English top flight, and it seems like there’s no stopping Pep Guardiola from getting a back-to-back league title.

However, the season doesn’t end until May, and there’s still quite a bit of football left to be played. Many clubs in the Premier League have impact players that can turn the game on its head if the Sky Blues aren’t careful enough. And this scribe is sure that they remember just how tricky of an opponent the Hornets can be.

Join the SBOBET Premier League team as we take a deeper dive into this seemingly lopsided match and study if this game is as simple as the Manchester City vs Watford odds claim it to be.

Talking Points

Can a wounded City run the marathon?

It’s an old sporting adage at this point: a season of professional football like the Premier League is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. Anything from injuries or a shocking defeat can turn a league-winning side into strugglers. Just ask Liverpool.

Right now, City’s biggest problem lies with injury problems. Injuries to Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte leave Pep with a very small pool of players to pool and deploy for the remaining three fronts they are fighting in.

They almost suffered another loss when Kevin De Bruyne had to be subbed out in their scrappy win at Dean Court, but he might not be out of the squad for long. His absence will still affect the club’s overall effectiveness, however.

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Fortunately, Pep has a ridiculous pool of fantastic players to choose from that can step up to the plate and perform when needed. Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane are still dangerous from the wings, Ilkay Gundogan has proven himself as a capable servant of the club, and Riyad Mahrez is always hungry to prove himself and snag a starting spot with consistent performances.

And we haven’t even touched on the team’s strikers yet. Gabriel Jesus may not be a consistent performer, but he already has six league goals in only seven starts and 15 substitute appearances. Sergio Aguero is also close to another ridiculous scoring record as he is likely to start in this match once again.

As long as City play their usual game, there’s no reason for the thousands of fans at the Etihad to feel afraid of their chances.

Watford always look to strike big

Watford aren’t making as much noise in the footballing media as their hosts, but that doesn’t discredit the fact that they are playing out of their skin this season.

The Hornets are nowhere near the relegation scuffle as they have reached the magical 40-point threshold in February, and Javi Gracia’s boys can now focus on getting as high a league position as they can.

They were in the Premier League 2019 highlights for the wrong reasons recently, though: Liverpool used them as whipping boys to showcase their dominance in a 5-0 hiding. However, the gaffer was more than confident in his team’s ability to bounce back, and they showed just that in an impressive showing against Leicester that spoiled Brendan Rogers’ debut as the Foxes’ manager.

Watford are aiming for a European spot as they face Premier League champions Manchester City — Andre Gray celebrates with his team-mates after scoring against Leicester

Etienne Capoue’s solid defending will be counted on if they are to snatch a point at the Etihad. Troy Deeney, Gerard Deulofeu, and Abdoulaye Doucoure must also step their game up if they want to get a positive result. Gracia would also love it if Andre Gray pulls off another late winner.

History

Manchester City and Watford haven’t locked horns in the top flight that often as they weren’t fixtures in the English top flight until recently. However, the 19 games that they have played together have all gone in favour of the league leaders.

City won 12 of those games and only dropped points in three games. The three games Watford have won over City were all in the 1980s, and they haven’t gotten better enough to add to their small tally of wins against the Sky Blues.

However, their most recent meeting gave an encouraging look for the Watford faithful. They gave the defending champions quite a battle in December, and more of the same can be expected of the overachieving Hornets.

Betting Tip

	Manchester City vs Watford	Watford Asian Handicap +2.25 @ 1.95
	March 10, 01:30 (GMT+8)

Of course, anyone would be stupid to bet against Manchester City at this point of the season. They still are the best team in the Premier League by leaps and bounds, and Pep Guardiola is such a master tactician that he can lead the Sky Blues to victory against the Hornets with one eye closed.

However, it is important to remember that this same side struggled to comfortably win against a minnow like Bournemouth. Eddie Howe showed Javi Gracia how to frustrate the team, and the Spaniard has more in-form players compared to his English counterpart. Moreover, the absence of Fernandinho, Laporte, and De Bruyne is bound to sting his rotations.

I still think that Manchester City will take the three points, but this scribe respectfully believes that the final score won’t be as lopsided as one may think.