Manchester City vs Watford, Premier League Matchday 30: Team News, Preview and Prediction

Competition/Round: 2018/19 English Premier League Season – Matchday 30

Date/Time: Manchester City vs Watford – Saturday, 9 March 2019, 17:30 GMT (UK); 12:30 EST, 09:30 PST (USA)

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Match Officials:

Referee: Paul Tierney

Assistants: Eddie Smart, Adrian Holmes

Fourth Official: Chris Kavanagh

TV Info: BT Sport 1 (UK); NBC (USA)

Live Stream: BT Sport Live (UK); NBC Sports Live, Fubo.tv (USA) Fubo.tv shows every Manchester City game with a high-quality and legal stream. New to Fubo.tv? Click here to sign up for a discounted rate.

Radio: BBC Radio Manchester (UK); TalkSport Radio World (USA)

Preview:

After a series of entertaining matches last weekend, the English Premier League is back underway. Manchester City will host Watford on Saturday.

Match fatigue has hit the Manchester camp. Following City’s EFL Cup victory over Chelsea, which included extra time and penalties, the Blues recorded two 1-0 victories over West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth. The football was not pretty, but the Blues are starting to churn out crucial results in what is a very important part of the season. They now find themselves at the top of the EPL table, and a point ahead of Liverpool. Should they hope to retain the EPL title, City will need to improve their performance.

Meanwhile, Watford has found itself in the important battle for seventh. Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently ahead of Watford on goal differential. Should the Hornets wish to claim England’s final UEFA Europa League spot, they will need to improve their defensive woes. They have conceded 41 goals in 29 matches, and should they look to upset City on Saturday, they will need to improve their defensive capabilities.

Team News:

Manchester City are without the injured Aymeric Laporte, Claudio Bravo, Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne. John Stones and Gabriel Jesus have returned to match fitness.

Watford’s Isaac Success and Kiko Femenia are sidelined through injury and will not feature in this match.

Possible Lineups:

Manchester City

Formation: 4-3-3

Ederson; Danilo, Kompany, Otamendi, Mendy; D. Silva, Gündoğan, Foden; Mahrez, Jesus, Sané

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Watford

Formation: 4-2-2

Foster; Janmaat, Mariappa, Cathcart, Masina; Hughes, Doucouré, Pereyra, Grey; Deulofue, Deeney

Manager: Javi Garcia

Prediction:

Manchester City have an opportunity to extend their lead as their rivals Liverpool play on Sunday. A victory on Saturday would put City potentially four points clear of Liverpool with only eight games remaining. Simply put, this is the crunch period of the season.

Watford, however, have the opportunity to play spoilers and put the title race back in Liverpool’s hands. The Hornets have already upset Tottenham Hotspur and Everton this season, and could be looking to turn some heads as they travel to Manchester on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Watford have failed to keep a clean sheet in three of their last five EPL outings, and given City’s current form, it is predicted the Blues will edge ahead in this fixture.

Manchester City 2-0 Watford