Watford vs Manchester United – Premier League Match Preview

Dan Tracey November 28, 2017 Leave a comment 2,093 Views

After a run of three straight defeats, Watford have bounced back in the best possible fashion with back to back victories in the past fortnight. They have picked up maximum points against both West Ham and Newcastle but this evening the task is a little tougher as they play host to Manchester United.

Tonight we will see Portuguese managers duke it out at Vicarage Road as Marco Silva and Jose Mourinho, many say that the former is the heir apparent to the latter and the former Hull City bosses stock is already high going in to this fixture.

So much so that he is still being courted by Everton as their search for a new boss continues, should the man who at one time was in the Olympiakos hotseat be able to mastemind a win over Manchester United this evening than you can only imagine that the stock will only increase further.

Ultimately the reason he is attracting so much attention from Everton is down to the fact that he has almost transformed Watford over night after taking over the reigns in the Summer. The Hornets currently find themselves 8th in the table and it is fair to say that they have been very easy on the eye this season.

That was no less evident when they traveled to Newcastle last Saturday and made easy work of Rafa Benitez’s men. In fairness Newcastle were very abject at the same time but ultimately the old adage that you can only beat what is front of you could not have been more true.

They usually score two goals on the road but last weekend they went one better as they ended up winning 3-0 at St James’ Park and after a slow start to his Watford career Will Hughes is finding his groove after scoring in back to back league fixtures.

He may well have his work cut out if he is to make it three goals in three games as Manchester United have the meanest defence in the Premier League this season. They have conceded just six goals in their first 13 matches of the season.

Saturday saw David de Gea complete another shut out with Brighton the latest team to be foiled at Old Trafford. United were made to work for their win though as it needed Ashley Young’s second half goal to break the deadlock, a goal that would prove to be the difference come the end of the game.

That win temporarily saw United cut the gap at the top to their crosstown rivals City to just five points what with Pep Guardiola’s men playing a day later and they must have believed at one point that Huddersfield were going to do them a favour after Nicolas Otamendi put through his own net to give the Yorkshire outfit the lead.

However as we now know there is no stopping the blue machine as of late and the gap has been restored to eight points once again, that said the other results around on Saturday went there way with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham only picking up a solitary point that day.

You get the feeling that the title race is down to a two horse race before we’ve even entered December and United have a chance to add a bit of pressure onto their arch rivals this evening by taking all three points away from Hertfordshire.

Last season United came here and lost 3-1 but it is fair to say that both teams are much changed so do not expect the same result this time around. I think both teams will score but I have a feeling it will be Jose Mourinho who wins the battle of the Portugeezers. An away win for me.

Here is what social media thinks will happen – you can still vote on the outcome