Manchester City v Watford – Stats and Facts

Manchester City welcome Watford to Etihad Stadium on Saturday, looking to continue their excellent record against the struggling Hornets.

City have won the last seven matches in all competitions at home to Watford, with the last meeting ending with not only City’s biggest win over Watford, but also their biggest Premier League victory. That 8-0 win in September 2019 saw the blues also become the first team to score five times in the first 20 minutes of a Premier League match, surpassing Arsenal’s record of four over the same time period, ironically against the blues at Maine Road.

That win came off the back of thrashing the Hornets in the FA Cup final in May of the same year, and the faithful will be hoping for a similar scoreline on Saturday to try and make up some of the superior goal difference Liverpool currently hold.

Saturday’s match will be the 19^th match between the two in Manchester, with City winning thirteen to Watford’s 3. There has only been one draw in this fixture between the two, which was a goalless encounter in December 2006.

The blues won their first ever encounter at home to Watford, back in September 1992 with a 1-0 win, but have not lost a home match since April 1987, when Watford won 2-1. The two teams met again in the League Cup in November 1987, when a Paul Lake inspired performance saw the second division blues knock out their first division opponents.

Overall, City have scored forty-two goals at home to Watford, while the visitors have managed just fourteen. City have kept eight clean sheets and have only failed to score on two occasions – other thank the goalless draw, City lost a first division match 1-0 in March 1986.

The superstitious won’t be happy will no doubt have a little cause for concern. This fixture has only ever been played once in April – the above mentioned 2-1 defeat.