Man City vs. Watford
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick Off: 3PM
Manchester City will be looking to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League table when they welcome Watford to the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
The Citizens will enter the contest off the back of a 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday, while Watford suffered a 2-1 loss to Brentford in their last match on April 16.
Man City returned to the top of the Premier League table on Wednesday evening courtesy of a 3-0 success over Brighton, with Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva on the scoresheet in the second period.
The Citizens are again one point clear of second-placed Liverpool and will have the chance to move four points clear today, as Liverpool are not in action until Sunday, when they face Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Pep Guardiola’s side lost to Liverpool in the semi-finals of the FA Cup last weekend, so they are now fighting on just two fronts, aiming for success in the Premier League and Champions League, and Real Madrid will visit the Etihad Stadium for the first leg of their European Cup semi-final next week.
Man City will then take on Leeds United at the end of April before travelling to Real Madrid for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, and it will be fascinating to see how the campaign finishes, as the club could win two trophies, one or potentially zero, with Liverpool aiming for a quadruple.
The Citizens have been strong in front of their own supporters in the league this season, picking up 38 points from 16 matches, but Watford have actually been much better away from home than at Vicarage Road, with 15 of their 22 points coming on their travels this term.
Watford are far from down and out, but there is no getting away from the fact that something special will need to happen in the final weeks of the campaign if they are to survive.
The Hornets are currently 19th in the table, seven points behind 17th-placed Everton, who have a game in hand, but they have some winnable matches coming up.
Indeed, Roy Hodgson’s side have a gigantic home game against Burnley at the end of the month before taking on Crystal Palace and Everton in back-to-back fixtures, while their final two matches of the campaign are against Leicester City and Chelsea.
Watford picked up an impressive three points away to Southampton on March 13 but have lost their last three league matches against Liverpool, Leeds United and Brentford, conceding seven times in the process.
The Hornets have also lost each of their last 14 games against Man City in all competitions, including a 3-1 defeat in the reverse match at Vicarage Road earlier this season.
Man City possible XI: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Grealish, Sterling, Jesus.
Watford possible XI: Foster, Femenia, Kabasele, Samir, Kamara, Sissoko, Louza, Lucka, Dennis, Pedro, Sarr.
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