Manchester City vs Watford; Premier League
Manchester City vs Watford. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance54,273.
Manchester City 8
- D Silva (1st minute)
- S Agüero (7th minute pen)
- R Mahrez (12th minute)
- B Silva (15th minute, 48th minute, 60th minute)
- N Otamendi (18th minute)
- K De Bruyne (85th minute)
Watford 0
Man City vs Watford preview
Watch match highlights from 5.15pm on skysports.com and Sky Sports app
Friday 20 September 2019 16:19, UK
Team news, key stats and predictions ahead of Man City vs Watford in the Premier League.
Team news
John Stones, as revealed by Pep Guardiola in midweek, looks set to miss around a month of games for Manchester City, while Aymeric Laporte is out longer-term. Phil Foden missed their win in Shakhtar but could return.
Watford will have captain Troy Deeney, defender Craig Cathcart and forward Isaac Success available.
How to watch
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Manchester City have won their last 11 meetings with Watford in all competitions, scoring at least twice in each game (38 goals in total).
- Watford's run of 11 successive defeats in all competitions against Man City is their joint-longest such run against any opponent - they also lost 11 in a row vs Man Utd between 1987-2016.
- Only against West Brom (14 between April 2012-January 2018) have Manchester City had a longer winning run against an opponent than their current run of 11 against Watford.
- Watford have lost each of their last 15 Premier League away games against 'big six' teams by an aggregate score of 9-45, with their last such victory coming against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in January 2017 (2-1).
- Manchester City's 2-3 loss at Norwich City on MD5 was their first Premier League defeat in 19 matches - they last lost consecutively in the competition in December 2018 (vs Crystal Palace & Leicester City). However, the Citizens have won 20 of their last 22 Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium (W20 D1 L1).
- Watford are winless in the Premier League so far this season (W0 D2 L3) and have only failed to win any of their opening six games to a league season on eight previous occasions, with the last coming in the 2006-07 Premier League campaign in which they ended the season in bottom place.
- Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in his seven appearances against Watford in all competitions, including netting hat-tricks in January 2014 (FA Cup) and September 2017 (Premier League).
- Sergio Aguero has scored in his last six Premier League appearances - the last player to score in seven in a row in the competition was Romelu Lukaku in December 2015 whilst playing for Everton.
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
At the moment, Man City have defensive frailties and injuries. Fernandinho can play there and is comfortable doing so, Rodri could play there if needed, but Kyle Walker played as a back three for England and Guardiola could be tempted with him. I would fancy Walker to play there ahead of Nicolas Otamendi sometimes, but his passing at right-back is sometimes average.
Watford got out of jail against Arsenal, and that was from living off mistakes. I do not see Manchester City being upset by the way Watford play. I think a few may get a rest, but City will be angered by last weekend and will want to close the gap quite quickly, with Liverpool having a tough game this weekend.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)