Premier League: Manchester City vs Watford preview

Premier League leaders and defending champions Manchester City are looking to record their sixth consecutive league victory when they host Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The reverse fixture was a tricky one for the Citizens, they won it 2-1 with goals from Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane while Abdoulaye Doucoure scored for the Hornets. That was the ninth consecutive win for Manchester City against Watford in all competitions, a streak that started in 2013. The last time the Hornets won a match against Manchester City was in 1989, when both sides were playing in the second tier of English football. Manchester City have reclaimed their place at the top of the Premier League table last weekend thanks to their 1-0 victory at Bournemouth, coupled with Liverpool's goalless draw in the Merseyside Derby. The Citizens have a one-point advantage over the Reds now, while third-placed Tottenham have pretty much dropped out of the title race as they are ten points behind. Manager Pep Guardiola does have some injury concerns, and with next week's Champions League match against Schalke coming up, he might choose to make some changes to his starting eleven. Kevin De Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho and Claudio Bravo are sidelined, but Fabian Delph and Benjamin Mendy should be available again. Watford have been in pretty good form lately, they lost just two of their twelve matches in all competitions in 2019 and those losses were against top teams like Tottenham and Liverpool. Last week they picked up a 2-1 home victory over Leicester City and that result allowed them to remain tied on 43 points with Wolves in seventh place. They can't really hope to push for a top-six finish this season, but finishing seventh could grant them a place in next season's Europa League. Miguel Britos and Kiko Femenia are the only injury concerns for the away side, so manager Javi Gracia will most likely field an unchanged starting eleven. Probable line-ups: Man City: Ederson - Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko - B. Silva, Gundogan, D. Silva - Sterling, Aguero, Sane Watford: Foster - Janmaat, Mariappa, Cathcart, Holebas - Doucoure, Capoue - Pereyra, Hughes - Deeney, Deulofeu My prediction: Manchester City to win 2-0, the Citizens won't let their first place go easily so they can't really slip up against Watford. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Man City win - 1.14 Draw - 7.50 Watford win - 17.00