Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under the spotlight yet again as his under-pressure Manchester United side travel south to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Manchester United suffered a dismal defeat to their neighbours Manchester City last time out, while Watford were narrowly defeated by Arsenal who won 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Manchester United
Things continue to go from bad to worse for Solskjaer and his side who were seemingly saved by the international break after enduring yet another humiliating defeat at home to their bitter rivals.
And United started as they intended to go on, going a goal down in just seven minutes after a calamitous own goal by Eric Bailly to put the visitors ahead.
Guardiola’s men maintained complete control following their early lead, keeping 68% possession and limiting the home side to just one shot on target. Bernardo Silva doubled their lead straight after half-time to seal a deserved and convincing win for City.
If history is anything to go by, the game on Saturday should end with one team taking all three points since there has not been a draw in the United vs Watford fixture since 1986 – a run of 21 games.
With Solskjaer’s side enjoying just one victory in their last six Premier League games and currently in 6th place – five points off fifth placed Liverpool – United face a highly pressurised run into the busy Christmas period.
The Red Devils have three successive away games to come, where they travel to Spain in their Champions League game with Villarreal before a difficult tie against league leaders Chelsea.
Watford
Since Claudio Ranieri was appointed as the new manager of Watford, the results have proven to be those of a mixed big.
A 5-0 thumping away to Liverpool was then quickly redeemed on their next trip to Merseyside where they returned the favour with a thrilling 5-2 victory against Everton.
Since that impressive victory, the Hornets have been narrowly defeated on two occasions, losing 1-0 successively against Southampton and most recently away to Arsenal, where Emile Smith-Rowe scored the only goal of the afternoon shortly after half-time.
With Watford yet to keep a clean sheet so far in the Premier League, the fixture promises goals as similarly, Manchester United have kept just one clean sheet in eight league games.
Team News
Paul Pogba is out of the United side for the foreseeable future after suffering a thigh injury while on international duty for France. Meanwhile his fellow countryman Raphael Varane is also recovering from a hamstring injury and is not set to return until December.
Luke Shaw is still being assessed ahead of the game, while Edinson Cavani remains out with a foot injury.
As for Watford, Juraj Kucka will be suspended for the game, while Christian Kabasele, Ken Sema, Francico Sierralta and Ozan Tufan all are out of contention.
Watford vs Manchester United – kick off at 3pm (UK time) on Saturday 20th November 2021
Joel Tudor
