Watford put on a good show in their last game in the Premier League against Arsenal, where they came back from two goals down to draw the match. The Hornets have secured just two points from their five Premier League games this season and are bottom of the league.
Watford face 2018-19 Premier League champions Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, in what will be attack vs defence, with the champions hoping to turn things around after last weekend’s embarrassing defeat against Norwich City.
What team could Watford manager Quique Sánchez Flores put out against Pep Guardiola’s men?
PREDICTED WATFORD LINEUP vs MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Ben Foster, who has started all five of Watford’s Premier League games this season, will start in goal in the Watford lineup.
Defence
Flores may stick to a back four against City. Craig Cathcart missed the last game against Arsenal and will be absent here as well with the duo of Craig Dawson and Christian Kabasele set to continue at the heart of the defence.
Jose Holebas and Kiko Femenia had a tough time at the start of the game against Arsenal last week but managed to recover and put in decent shifts over the course of the second half. They could retain their places with Daryl Janmaat an alternative.
Midfield
Abdoulaye Doucouré and Étienne Capoue will most likely be the deep-lying midfielders for the Hornets against Manchester City, and they will spend most of their time in their own half, stopping City’s talented midfielders from getting on the ball. We could see Watford play a very narrow midfield, flooding the centre of the park with bodies to stop City from playing through the likes of David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne.
Tom Cleverley, who scored Watford’s first goal against Arsenal last weekend, could be one of the three central midfielders for the Hornets against City, and he will be tasked with the duty of man-marking someone like de Bruyne and take up a slightly advanced position when his team is in possession.
Will Hughes could see his place go to Ismaila Sarr if Flores opts for the new signing’s pace on the counter even though the manager did stress on slowly integrating him into the team.
Gerard Deulofeu will start on the left after an excellent outing against the Gunners.
Attack
Andre Gray has played as the lone striker for the last two games due to Troy Deeney’s injury and we could see him play in that role yet again for the Hornets.
