Manchester United are looking to get back into the top four this weekend, and they would need to defeat Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday in order to have that chance. The reverse fixture was a tricky one for the Red Devils, Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling put them ahead before the break but a goal from Andre Gray got Watford back into the game and United had to defend that narrow lead. It was the fourth consecutive win for Manchester United against Watford and the fifth in the last six meetings. The last time Watford defeated Man United was in 2016, when they grabbed a 3-1 victory at Vicarage Road.
Manchester United are desperate to bounce back because they lost their last two competitive matches before the international break. First they lost 2-0 at Arsenal and that result dropped them to fifth place, two points behind the fourth-placed Gunners, and then they crashed out of the FA Cup due to a 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton. Arsenal play at home against Newcastle on Monday, so the Red Devils could move up to fourth place at least temporarily until then if they beat Watford. Alexis Sanchez in still out injured, but Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Nemanja Matic could all return after having withdrawn from their national teams due to injuries. Romelu Lukaku is an injury doubt after having missed Belgium's matches due to a foot problem.
Watford also have a lot to play for, they are hoping to finish seventh in the Premier League and qualify for next season's Europa League. They could also reach that target through the FA Cup as they qualified for the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace just before the international break. Their last Premier League match was a 3-1 defeat at defending champions Manchester City and that result dropped them to eighth place, one point behind seventh-placed Wolves. Jose Holebas is recovering from an ankle injury and he might sit this one out.
Probable line-ups:
Man United: De Gea - Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw - Herrera, Matic, Pogba - Lingard - Martial, Rashford
Watford: Foster - Janmaat, Mariappa, Cathcart, Masina - Capoue, Doucoure - Hughes, Pereyra - Deeney, Deulofeu
My prediction: Manchester United to win 2-1, it will be a tough match for the Red Devils but they should be able to get all three points.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man United win - 1.40
Draw - 4.50
Watford win - 8.00
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Comments (1)
sharpe
03/29/19, 07:03:34 PM
Yeah, like Johnny said above United need to bounce back from the couple of defeats they've got lately but more interesting to me will be how the team would perform...
Yeah, like Johnny said above United need to bounce back from the couple of defeats they've got lately but more interesting to me will be how the team would perform in the first Solskjaer match as a permanent manager. Would it be quite confusing and even ridiculous situation for the board if the team perform really poor after they've had just granted the manager a 3 year contract...but let's hope not.
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