The Premier League is set to return to our lives this weekend, following a series of intriguing fixtures (and results) in Europe earlier in the week. We’re approaching the business end of the season with a lot of things still left to be determined, which, in truth, is the best possible position we could find ourselves in. Premier League football is at its best when there are a series of stakes attached to the games that we’re watching, and while that may make for some pretty tense viewing if you’re a fan of one of the teams involved, that’s part of the journey.

One of the games we’re going to be looking at ahead of the weekend’s action is Manchester City vs Watford. The two teams have both had really strong seasons up to this point, and with just a few months remaining between now and the end of the campaign, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t go on to achieve even bigger and better things. From the outside looking in it’s not the kind of fixture that immediately jumps off the page as a potential barnburner, but you’d be a fool not to inspect things further.

Manchester City find themselves in a pretty comfortable position right now, having already secured one trophy this season in the form of the Carabao Cup. They’re still doing pretty well in the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League, too, which has left some wondering whether or not they can pull off the unthinkable – the quadruple. Pep Guardiola has built one of the best squads we’ve ever seen at this level, and while there are a lot of obstacles to get through between now and May, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t walk away from this season with all of the available silverware.

Watford have had a pretty great campaign in their own right, as they currently find themselves in the top eight with less than 10 games remaining. Whilst they would’ve had lofty ambitions when the season kicked off, they probably couldn’t have imagined things would go this smoothly. They’re also one win away from a spot at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals, but perhaps more importantly than that, they’re locked in a battle with Wolverhampton Wanderers for seventh. If they can win that battle, then they’ll be one big step closer towards potentially qualifying for the Europa League.

City’s last six games have been pretty flawless, kicking things off with a 6-0 demolition of Chelsea that reaffirmed their dominance in this division. They went on to beat Newport 4-1 in the FA Cup, securing their place in the quarter-finals in the process. They then avoided disaster with a 3-2 comeback win over Schalke in the Champions League, and then, in their fourth competition of this two week spell, they beat Chelsea on penalties to win the Carabao Cup. They had a little bit more trouble in their last two outings, only just managing to edge their way past Bournemouth and West Ham.

Watford began their most recent spell with a 0-0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion, proving that no matter how much momentum you have, a slip up can always be waiting around the next corner. They went on to beat Everton 1-0, before picking up their third consecutive clean sheet in the FA Cup against Queens Park Rangers (in a game they won). They tore through Cardiff City with a nice 5-1 result in their Premier League return, but they ran into a bit of a stumbling block when they were taken apart by Liverpool who stuck five goals past them. Thankfully, though, they didn’t stay down for long, bouncing back with a nice last minute win over Leicester.

These two teams haven’t had all too much history between them, with the first game in this fixture taking place back in 1982. Since then City have registered 16 wins in comparison to Watford’s 6, with five draws in between. Interestingly enough City are actually unbeaten in their last 14 games against the Hornets, winning the last nine. Watford’s last victory came way back in 1989, which shows that City were a bit of a bogey team even before their big rise. The last game between the two went down in December, when Guardiola’s men were able to grind out a narrow 2-1 win.

With City having the game against Schalke to worry about, the expectation is that Pep could rotate some players out. Kevin De Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury in the win against the Cherries so will likely miss out, and could also miss the Champions League game if it’s considered necessary. John Stones is expected to be sidelined, but elsewhere, Fabian Delph and Benjamin Mendy have been fighting hard to try and be fit for this game. They’ll both hope to be selected, although it could wind up being a game day decision.

In short: things are pretty good for Watford and manager Javi Gracia. There’s no expectation of him making any real changes, given that they put in a solid performance in the win against the Foxes. Watford have a fully fit squad to choose from this weekend, which is actually something of a rarity in this division as many of you will know. The team selection is going to be vital here, which won’t come as a much of a surprise, as Gracia needs to decide whether or not to go defensive or stick to his guns with a strong attacking setup.

Manchester City vs Watford Betting Prediction

As much credit as you want to give Watford, taking on Manchester City when they’re in this kind of form is just a different ballgame. Now that they have the fate of the title race back in their own hands, it doesn’t feel like they’re going to surrender control to Liverpool again. They’re just too good in literally every area of the pitch, and it’s well known that the Hornets have a bad result or two in their back locker. We think they’re going to keep things pretty competitive in the first half hour or so, but then, the champions are going to start pulling away.

Once they nudge their way in front that’ll probably end any kind of confident push for a result that Watford had, mainly because they would’ve written this off as a loss before the game anyway. They’re a plucky side, but City are able to expose even the best of teams in ways they haven’t even thought of yet. We can see them slicing through the Watford back four once they start to get a little bit more tired, keeping a strong hold on the race for the title.

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