Manchester City vs Watford Predictions, Betting Tips, and Preview

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Manchester City vs Watford Predictions

Wednesday, 14/12/2016

Etihad Stadium

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Manchester City find themselves seven points off the title course as they play host to Walter Mazzarri’s Watford this evening. The Citizens were ruthlessly punished by Leicester for their lackluster display on Sunday and conceded a 3-1 loss at home to league leaders Chelsea the week before. With a home fixture against Arsenal coming up next, Pep Guardiola would be desperate to avoid any further slip-ups and pick up a revitalizing victory against Watford.

Watford are more in sync with the festive season as they moved up to the seventh position by beating Everton at home on Saturday. Stefano Okaka scored a brace in Watford’s first win against Everton in 29 years and established himself as a viable option upfront. Watford have bulged the net 21 times this season, which is more than Manchester United(20). Should they keep their momentum, they might make City pay for their chaotic defending once again and pick up their maiden Premier League win against the Sky Blues.

The hosts will miss their top scorer Sergio Aguero once again, who will be serving the second of his four match ban. Fernandinho is also ruled out for suspension while Nicolas Otamendi returns after serving a one match ban. Vincent Kompany remains the missing, and perhaps the most valuable, piece of City’s defense as the Belgian is ruled out till January for a knee injury.

Roberto Pereyra and Younes Kaboul could be recalled to action for Watford. Valon Behrami remains a doubt for being ill.

City have the attacking aptitude required for outscoring the visitors even though Sergio Aguero is not available. But we are expecting goals at both ends also. So, it could be a 2-1 or 3-1 for the hosts.

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RECENT FORM

Manchester City(4^th in the league, last 5 matches in all competitions)

2-4(Away, Leicester City)1-1(UCL, Home, Celtic)1-3(Home, Chelsea)2-1(Away, Burnley)1-1(UCL, Away, Borussia Monchengladbach)

Watford

3-2(Home, Everton)1-3(Away, West Brom)0-1(Home, Stoke)2-1(Home, Leicester)1-6(Away, Liverpool)

HEAD TO HEAD

Total Played	ManCity wins	Watford wins	Draws
22	11	6	5

LAST MEETING

2 January, 2016

Vicarage Road

Premier League

Manchester City 2-Watford 1

INTERESTING FACTS

Manchester City last 20 home games against teams below them-13 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses
Watford last 20 away games against teams above them-4 draws and 16 losses
Manchester City are unbeaten in four previous Premier League games against Watford, winning both fixtures against them last season (W2 D2 L0).
The Hornets didn’t manage a single shot on target in their Premier League meeting with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last season.
All seven of the previous goals scored in this fixture in the Premier League have arrived after half-time.
Watford’s last league win over Manchester City came in a second tier clash in March 1989 (D2 L4 since).
Watford have never won a Premier League match on a Wednesday (W0 D2 L7).
Pep Guardiola has seen his side concede three or more goals in consecutive league games for the very first time as a manager.
Guardiola has only lost three successive league games as a manager once before – this was in May 2015 as Bayern Munich boss (vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FC Augsburg and Sport-Club Freiburg).
Manchester City have won just three of their seven Premier League home games this season (W3 D3 L1) – they have won double this number away from home (6).
Watford have conceded nine goals and allowed their opponents 20 shots on target in their last two Premier League away matches.
Over half (12) of the last 22 goals that Watford have conceded in the Premier League have come following an opposition cross.

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31st January 2017 7:45 pm Sunderland vs Tottenham Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Rock bottom Sunderland will host Tottenham Hotspurs on Tuesday night hoping for an upset to kick-start a move out of the drop zone. David Moyes’s men have been regular residents of the relegation zone since September and the manager is very much aware that the next few matches might define the future for his team. The Black Cats produced another impotent display last week as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against West Brom at Hawthorns. Sunderland failed to create clear cut opportunities and were ruled out of the game within the first 36 minutes as the Baggies raced up to a 2-0 lead. David Moyes attempted a three men backline, probably being inspired by Chelsea and Tottenham, but it didn’t prove much useful for him. View Football Tips
31st January 2017 7:45 pm Burnley vs Leicester Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Burnley welcome Premier League champions Leicester City to the fortress they built at Turf Moor for Tuesday’s Premier League action. The Clarets have ensured 25 out of 36 points available at home and have proved to be a formidable force to be dealt with at Turf Moor. Sean Dyche’s men are currently 10 points clear off the drop zone and seem like a safe bet for Premier League survival. They have picked up only one point on the road and came agonizingly close to ensure their second away point last week but was denied by a last minute penalty from Alexis Sanchez. Burnley forward Andre Gray had leveled the game in the injury time by scoring from the penalty spot against his boyhood dream club. But Arsenal were thrown a lifeline by referee Jon Moss when he awarded them a penalty in the final minute of injury time for a foul on Laurent Koscielny. Sanchez kept his cool and sent the ball to the net, scoring his 15th Premier League goal of the season. Earlier, Shkodran Mustafi scored his first Arsenal goal to give Arsenal the lead. View Football Tips
31st January 2017 7:45 am Middlesbrough vs West Brom Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Middlesbrough would be hoping for a far better outcome after their 3-1 defeat to West Ham at home last week, when they entertain West Brom on Tuesday night. The score-line suggests absolute domination from West Ham throughout the game but actually, Middlesbrough were the ones who enjoyed long spells of possession. They couldn’t make much out of their 60%+ possession and 27 crosses into the opposition box. The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute when Andy Carroll pounded a bullet header into the net from a Manuel Lanzini corner. Boro were quick to react and pulled themselves level as Christian Stuani scored from Callum Chambers’ cross. Adama Traore threatened to steal the lead for the hosts a couple of times but it was West Ham once again, who took the lead. Andy Carroll scored in the brink of half time to make it 2-1 for the Hammers. Middlesbrough dominated the entire second half but failed to find their way back into the game. On the contrary, Jonathan Calleri scored in the injury time to rub salt into Middlesbrough’s wounds. View Football Tips
31st January 2017 7:45 am Swansea vs Southampton Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview After relishing a historic win at Anfield, the Swans are back on home to face Claude Puele’s Southampton on Tuesday night. Last week’s win over Liverpool was Paul Clement’s first win after taking over on January 3rd. Clement should be overwhelmed by the character his team had shown to outplay Liverpool. Fernando Llorente scored twice in a four minute spell two earn the visitors a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute. Roberto Firmino responded with a brace to restore temporary parity which was decisively broken by Gylfi Sigurdsson’s 74th minute goal. The win dragged Swansea out of the drop zone and moved them to the 17th position. View Football Tips
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29th January 2017 4:00 pm Manchester United vs Wigan Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Manchester United will play their second cup tie in four days time when they host Wigan Athletic on Sunday afternoon. Jose Mourinho’s men’s 17 match unbeaten run were brought to an end by an impressive Hull City at midweek but they still managed to qualify for the final, winning the semifinal 3-2 on aggregate. The Red Devils are unbeaten in all competitions since September and they should expect their unbeaten run against Wigan, who are striving for survival in Championship football. The Latics have won their last two games in the Championship but still, they are 21st in the table and the relegation threat still looms large. Mourinho have shown that he doesn’t treat this matches lightly and is expected to field a strong squad against Wigan to ensure progress to the next round of the competition. View Football Tips
28th January 2017 12:30 pm Liverpool vs Wolves Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Liverpool will host another cup tie on Saturday after their disappointing exit from the EFL Cup semifinal at midweek. The lunchtime kick-off will see the Reds take on Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who sit 18th in the Championship standings. This might be the perfect opportunity for Jurgen Klopp’s men to lift up their morale ahead of a crunch clash against Chelsea on Tuesday night. Even though Liverpool had a horrible start to 2017, they would still be favorites to get the job done against the Wolves who aren’t in prime form either. Wolverhampton enter the fray after a 3-1 defeat to Norwich last week. The Wolves were also unlucky in their last three confrontations with Liverpool, having lost each of them and scoring only once. View Football Tips
27th January 2017 7:55 pm Derby vs Leicester Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview For this match we think there might be a bit of an upset and that the Rams will book a spot in the last 16. Leicester's form is poor and the Title holders in our opinion were lucky last Premier League season. Riyadh Maurer and Islam Slimane are on international duty too. View Football Tips
26th January 2017 7:45 pm Hull vs Manchester United Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Hull City welcome Manchester United on Thursday night for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie. Hull City will be trailing the game by 2-0 at kick-off but they will also be confident of their three match unbeaten run at home. Manager Mark Phelan has made his mark by defeating Swansea in the FA Cup and Bournemouth in the following week. The Tigers travelled to London at weekend to face the top placed Chelsea and produced an admirable endeavour to derail the Blues’ title charge. The match ended in 2-0 for the West Londoners but Chelsea were often cornered by a Hull attack who were missing their nucleus figure Robert Snodgrass. View Football Tips
25th January 2017 8:00 pm Liverpool vs Southampton Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Liverpool hope to overturn a 1-0 deficit at home when they meet Southampton in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final clash on Wednesday night. Liverpool have struggled in their recent matches and suffered another severe blow to their title challenge on Saturday as they surrendered the points to relegation fighters Swansea at home. Fernando Lllorente struck twice within the opening minutes of second half before Roberto Firmino scored a brace to restore parity. But Liverpool had no answer to Gylfi SIggurdsson’s 74th minute strike and tasted defeat at home for the first time this season. View Football Tips
18th January 2017 7:45 pm Plymouth vs Liverpool Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Everyone both nationally and internationally, will be firmly focused on Home Park on Wednesday. Having failed to get the job done against Plymouth in the FA Cup 3rd Round first time round Liverpool now have an arduous journey to the south coast. At least it will be a festival atmosphere at Home Park when the League Two side welcome giants Liverpool on Wednesday evening! View Football Tips
15th January 2017 4:00 pm Manchester United vs Liverpool Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Manchester United is set to renew their rivalry with arch-rivals Liverpool in a highly anticipated Sunday afternoon clash. The Red Devils enter the fray in stunning form, having won nine games in a row in all competitions. Yet the Sunday hosts find themselves five points worse off than their Merseyside counterparts and are currently positioned sixth in the league table. View Football Tips
15th January 2017 1:30 pm Everton vs Manchester City Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Everton welcome Manchester City on Sunday as they continue their quest for a European qualification spot. Everton did well to extract seven points out of the possible nine during the festive period which saw Ronald Koeman’s side moving up to the 7th position in the league. A top four finish seems highly unlikely but the Merseysiders might still get a taste of European football this season if they manage to finish sixth. A win over Manchester City would bring Everton within six points of sixth placed Manchester United, who face Liverpool later on. View Football Tips
14th January 2017 5:30 pm Leicester vs Chelsea Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Leicester City would remain unbeaten in three games should they manage to inflict more damage on Chelsea’s league table lead, who were denied a record 14 match winning record last game-week. Claudio Ranieri faces the challenge to maintain the top-flight status despite winning the title last season. Leicester picked up an encouraging victory at Goodison Park on Saturday, avenging their Boxing Day defeat to the Toffees. Leicester seemed destined for another disappointment when Romelu Lukaku’s close range strike put the hosts ahead. But Leicester substitute Ahmed Musa orchestrated a stunning comeback for the Foxes as the Nigerian struck twice in a span of five minutes to turn the game. View Football Tips
14th January 2017 12:30 pm Tottenham vs West Brom Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Tottenham hope to keep their title bid on track when West Brom come to challenge the Lilywhites to a Saturday lunchtime Premier League encounter. Tottenham stopped Chelsea’s 13 match winning juggernaut in the previous game-week to climb up third in the standings. Antonio Conte’s men’s failure to register a record 14th win in a row meant they stand five points above second placed Chelsea and seven points above third placed Spurs. A win against West Brom would consolidate their title credentials in an opened up league. View Football Tips
11th January 2017 7:45 pm Southampton vs Liverpool Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview After being held by lower league opponents in the FA Cup earlier this week, both Liverpool and Southampton will look to bounce back with a first leg win when the sides meet at St.Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final tie. Southampton have lost three games in the league since Christmas and the wheel of fortune were yet to turn in their favor on Sunday as Championship side Norwich City forced a replay of their FA Cup third round fixture. Steven Naismith scored in the dying minutes at Carrow Road to finish the game 2-2, denying the Saints their first victory in all competitions since mid December. View Football Tips
10th January 2017 8:00 pm Manchester United vs Hull Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Manchester United face Hull City on the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal tie at home on Tuesday night. The Red Devils won 8 matches in succession for the first time since 2009 as they crushed Championship side Reading 4-0 at home in an FA Cup third round fixture on Saturday. Manchester United captain Wayne Rooneymade history with his 7th minute opener which saw him draw level with club legend Sir Bobby Charlton’s all time highest scoring record for the Red Devils. Rooney touched the 249 goal milestone in 543 appearances, 215 matches and four seasons earlier than Charlton. Anthony Martial doubled the lead eight minutes later before Marcus Rashford scored a double in the second half. View Football Tips
8th January 2017 4:00 pm Tottenham vs Aston Villa Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Tottenham might still be living in a world of ecstasy after their fabulous win over West London rivals Chelsea when Aston Villa come to visit them in a FA Cup third round fixture on Sunday afternoon. Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Chelsea ended their 13 match winning streak and denied the Blues a share in the record of Arsenal’s 14 match winning streak. The victory also lifted the Lilywhites to the third position in the standings as their North London rivals Arsenal dipped to fifth. Delle Alli scored twice in the match as Spurs gave minimal chance of a comeback to Antonio Conte’s men, who seemed to have run out of ideas to avoid Spurs’ steamrolling. View Football Tips
8th January 2017 1:30 pm Liverpool vs Plymouth Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview League-Two outfit Plymouth Argyle make a trip to Anfield on Sunday afternoon with the hopes of making further progress in the FA Cup. The Pilgrims have eliminated Mansfield and Newport to reach the third round of the competition but now face a mammoth task of overriding Jorgen Klopp’s Liverpool to survive in the competition. History is against Derek Adam’s side but he would be hoping his side would cause an upset at Anfield, a ground where they are yet to win. Plymouth were dethroned as the leaders of League Two by a 1-0 away defeat against Barnet on Monday. Plymouth are currently second in the league trailing Doncaster by four points but have a game in hand. View Football Tips
7th January 2017 5:30 pm Preston vs Arsenal Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Arsenal head to Deepdale on FA Cup duty after a disappointing draw against Bournemouth last midweek. The 3-3 thriller at Vitality Stadium may or may not have written the obituary for Arsenal’s title ambitions but the Gunners will draw inspiration from the character they’ve shown in the last 20 minutes, which helped them overturn a 3-0 deficit. Arsene Wenger have won six FA Cup titles during his 21 year stint at Arsenal and should he lift the trophy for the seventh time this season, he will surpass former Aston Villa manager George Ramsey, who also has the honor of guiding his team to six FA Cup silverwares. The Frenchman has already voiced that FA Cup is a “big priority” for his club and is expected to select a strong line-up from the available options he has. View Football Tips
7th January 2017 3:00 pm Sunderland vs Burnley Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Sunderland get an immediate chance of retribution when they host Burnley in a FA Cup third round tie on Saturday afternoon. The Black Cats were thrashed 4-1 at Turf Moor by the Clarets last Saturday when the sides faced off in a Premier League encounter. Monday’s 2-2 draw against league title contenders Liverpool will obviously help Sunderland’s cause and they will look for a repeating performance to see off Burnley at home turf. Daniel Defoe scored twice from the spot to make the Merseysiders drop points but it wasn’t just a touch of luck that they managed to salvage something from the match. Sunderland organized some menacing attacks throughout the game to disrupt the Liverpool backline and also dropped in numbers to defend their goalpost against one of the most formidable attacking side of the league. View Football Tips
7th January 2017 3:00 pm Hull vs Swansea Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Marco Silva will have his first taste of English football when his side take on Paul Clement’s Swansea, who, coincidentally, is also a new managerial recruit, in a FA Cup third round clash on Saturday afternoon. Silva is tasked with the challenge of dragging Hull out of the relegation zone and a win against fellow strugglers Swansea could give them the necessary momentum to revive their below par season. Silva also faces the challenge of convincing a considerable group of Hull fans who have declared to boycott the matches believing a change in management is not sufficient to improve their current situation. View Football Tips
7th January 2017 3:00 pm Stoke vs Wolves Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Stoke City had been going through a series of ups and downs this seasons but they will be welcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon on the back of a revitalizing win against Watford on Tuesday night. They ended a dreadful spell of five winless matches as Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch scored for the Potters and brought them three steps up to the 11th position. Stoke is popularly considered to be an intimidating place to visit for opposition teams, but this season, Stoke have managed to win only win four out eleven games at the bet365 stadium. Mark Hughes would hope his team manages to pick up their fifth home victory of the season to pave their road towards Wembley. View Football Tips
7th January 2017 12:30 pm Manchester United vs Reading Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview Manchester United start their FA Cup title defense on Saturday afternoon against Championship side Reading. Reading manager Jaap Stam will set foot in the turfs of Old Trafford for the first time since his unhappy exit from Manchester United 16 years ago. The Dutchman, a member of the treble winning Manchester United side of 1999, was controversially sold to Lazio in 2001 by Sir Alex Fergusson after he had made some controversial comments on the club in his autobiography. Undoubtedly, Stam would be looking to mark his return to the Old Trafford with a memorable victory over his old club. Stam has done an impressive job in his first managerial role by bringing Reading back in contention for a Premier League return , who finished 17th in the Championships last year. Reading are currently 3rd in the Championship and have infused Dutch flavored pressing and passing into their playing style which saw them averaging an impressive 60% possession per game. View Football Tips
6th January 2017 7:55 pm West Ham vs Manchester City Betting Tips, Predictions, and Preview After a hectic run of Premier League fixtures West Ham and Manchester City turn their attention to the FA Cup as the teams are set to lock horns in a FA Cup third round encounter at London Stadium on Friday night. The Hammers lost their winning momentum during the jam packed festive period when they lost back to back games against Leicester(0-1) and Manchester United(0-2). Slaven Bilic’s men had to play with 10 men for 75 minutes in their 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester United on Monday. Sofiane Fehgouli was harshly shown a straight red by match official Mark Dean for his challenge on Phil Jones. Feghoulli, however, will be eligible to play against Manchester City on Friday as he had his suspension rescinded by the FA on Wednesday. Substitutes Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata made combined impact to break the Hammers’ resistance in the second half as the youngster brilliantly evaded a number of challenges before cutting back the ball to Mata. The Spaniard made no mistake to hit the target before Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a controversial second to see off the Hammers. View Football Tips