Watford – Manchester City (Premier League)
Watford and Manchester City face each other this Sunday, at Vicarage Road (Watford). This is a match of Premier League´s last round. Walter Mazzarri‘s side arrives to this match after a 4-3 away loss against the Premier League Champions Chelsea. Pep Guardiola´s men, on their turn, arrive here after a 3-1 home win over West Brom.
Watford hold the 16th position in the Premier League, with 40 points, which comes from 11 victories, 7 draws and 19 defeats, with 40 goals scored and 63 goals conceded. They are now clear from the relegation zone, but need 2 points to secure this place and they have lost their last 5 official matches. This sequence of results started with a 2-0 away loss against Hull City. This result was followed by a 0-1 home loss against Liverpool, a 3-0 way loss against Leicester City, a 1-0 away loss against Everton and as mentioned before, a 4-3 away loss against Chelsea.
At home in the league so far, the team has played 18 matches: drew 4, lost 6 and won 8. Their form at home is somehow effective, since they have lost 3 of their last 5 home matches.
Clear from the relegation zone and in a five-game winless run, Watford will try to avoid the 17th place.
Roberto Pereyra, Mauro Zárate, Kaboul, Cathcart and Sebastian Prodl are out.
Probable Lineup: Gomes – Janmaat, Mariappa, Capoue e Holebas – Amrabat, Doucouré, Behrami, Cleverley e Niang – Okaka.
Manchester City sit 3rd place in the table with 75 points, 2 points above the 4th place, Liverpool. Their points come from 22 wins, 9 draws and 6 defeats, with 75 goals scored and 39 conceded in the process. In their last 5 official matches, in this competition, they have won the last 3 and drew the other 2. This sequence of results started with a 0-0 home draw against Manchester United, that was followed by a 2-2 away draw against Middlesbrough, a 5-0 home draw against Crystal Palace, a 2-2 home win against Leicester City, and as mentioned before, a 3-1 home win against West Bromwich.
Away from home, so far, Pep Guardiola’s side have played 18 matches: won 11, drew 2 and lost 5. In addition, they have 38 goals scored and 22 conceded in the process. City have only lost 1 of their last 7 away matches and kept a clean sheet in 4 of them.
In order to be top four, Manchester City only need a point and they will try to do their best at Vicarage Road.
Gundogan, Bravo and Fabian Delph are out due to injury.
Probable Lineup: Caballero – Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi e Kolarov – Fernandinho – Jesus, Bruyne, Silva e Sané – Aguero.
In Mazzarri’s last game in charge, Watford will struggle to end the season in 16th place. City is expected to present a strong performance and win with a comfortable win.