Before the season began, Watford would have considered Premier League survival and a decent cup run as a hugely successful campaign, but Quique Sanchez Flores faces the job of trying to achieve much more than that in the closing two months
Browsing: Watford
Things weren’t particularly straightforward in the last round, though. After wins over Sunderland and Burnley to reach the last 16, the Gunners were held to a stalemate by Championship outfit Hull City at the Emirates, forcing a replay at the KC Stadium last week
It seemed for a long while that if either side was going to win the game, it would be Quique Sanchez Flores’s away side, but they were ultimately punished for their failure to convert numerous chances as United went on to benefit from the points that were dropped by those above them in the table
Just when it seemed that all hope had been abandoned, United manager, Louis van Gaal, has been granted a stay of execution, thanks to the most unlikely of sources
Struggling Championship side, Leeds United, were the visitors and although the Whites brought a sizeable away following, they did not cause Watford any problems and in the end Scott Wootton’s comical own goal was enough to send the Hornets through to the last eight
The Hornets are only four points shy of the magical 40-point total said to be enough to avoid relegation having impressed hugely in their first season back in the Premier League after eight years away
Alan Pardew will have known that top-four aspirations were perhaps overzealous, although he would not have been able to predict such a fall from grace for his side
Alli started amongst the substitutes for Spurs having felt dizzy during Tuesday’s match against Norwich City, but was eventually introduced just past the hour mark at White Hart Lane
Defeat for Manchester City earlier in the day opened the door for the Lilywhites to move up one position, and they were able to do exactly that thanks to a sixth win on the bounce in all competitions
The midfielder had to go off at half-time of the 3-0 win at Carrow Road on Tuesday after complaining he was dizzy
Ighalo failed to properly connect with a header from Jose Holebas’s cross when well placed in the 25th minute of the tie
A bland tie in the East Midlands was settled by the in-form forward, who made the most of a rare piece of slack play from the hosts to fire his side into the next round of the competition late on
The first two defeats were crushing late ones to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City where they gave everything they got at home, but since then they have not scored at either Southampton or Swansea City to sit 12th and just eight points above the bottom three. January blues are not a new thing for the Hornets – their recent slide means that they have only ever won one of their 11 Premier League matches in the first month of the year (W1 D1 L9)
Despite their recent slide, Watford have impressed in their first season back in the top flight and might fancy a cup run, while Newcastle’s main focus is escaping the drop in the next four months
Watford vs. Man City Venue: Vicarage Road Kick off: 6:30pm Manchester City will hope to close the gap on the…
ghalo caught fire in the Championship last season and finished 2015 with a calendar-year haul of 30 goals, 14 of which have come in 19 Premier League games for the newly-promoted Hornets this term
For the sixth Premier League game in a row, Ighalo found the net, stabbing low under Hugo Lloris after he had outmuscled Eric Dier in the area
Teams that rise from the Championship usually struggle with the defensive side of the game in the Premier League, but Watford have only conceded 16 times this season, which is up there with the best records in the division
Meanwhile, both Sunderland and Watford have two wins in their last three outings, but sit at opposite ends of the table, with the newly-promoted Hornets in the top half, while the home side sit in the relegation zone
And Ighalo netted his ninth goal of the season in second-half stoppage time after combining well again with Deeney