Watford vs. Man U
Venue: Vicarage Road
Kick off: 5:30PM
Manchester United will head to Watford in the Premier League this evening hoping to end the Hornets’ 100 per cent start to the 2018-19 campaign, which has left them in third position in the table.
Indeed, Watford have collected 12 points from their four league fixtures this term, and will be looking to overcome a United team that has won two and lost two of their four matches during a tough start to the season.
It was supposed to be a tough campaign for Watford, and while that still might be the case, the Hornets have made a stunning start to the season, with four wins from four matches seeing them put 12 points on the board.
Javi Gracia’s outfit are one of only three teams – the other two being Liverpool and Chelsea – to have a 100 per cent record at this stage, and another victory this weekend would leave the Watford fans dreaming of a potential “Leicester City season”.
The Hornets opened their 2018-19 campaign with a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, beat beating Burnley and Crystal Palace in their next two in the league ahead of a 2-0 victory over Reading in the EFL Cup.
Watford were tipped to come unstuck against Tottenham Hotspur before the international break, but they came from behind to record a 2-1 win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side to make it their best-ever start to a Premier League campaign.
Gracia’s team finished 14th in the Premier League last term, and were not particularly busy during the summer transfer window.
Something has clicked in the early weeks though, and they will be full of confidence ahead of the visit of United.
Watford dropped points in 12 of their 19 home Premier League matches last season, however, and have lost 20 of their 30 matches with United in all competitions, recording just five wins.
The Hornets have only beaten the Red Devils once since 1986, although that was a 3-1 success at Vicarage Road during the 2016-17 Premier League season, and the club’s supporters will be eyeing another success this evening.
United however opened their 2018-19 Premier League season with a 2-1 win over Leicester on August 10, but back-to-back defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur saw things go south pretty quickly.
Indeed, United’s back four was all over the place in the 3-2 defeat to Brighton on August 19, before a 3-0 home loss to Tottenham on August 27 led to speculation that Jose Mourinho could lose his job as head coach.
Mourinho eased the pressure with a 2-0 success away to Burnley before the international break, but the 20-time English champions are already six points off the top of the table, and that could become nine today.
Watford possible XI: Foster, Janmaat, Cathcart, Kabasele, Holebas, Capoue, Doucoure, Chalobah, Pereyra, Deeney, Hughes.
Man United possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Young, Fellaini, Pogba, Matic, Sanchez, Lukaku, Lingard.