Pep Guardiola has a 100% win rate against Watford FC having won all ten fixtures against them in his career. In December, Manchester City won 3-1 at Vicarage Road, and in doing so set a new personal best for Guardiola, as he also has a nine game winning streak going against another opponent- AFC Bournemouth.
Only against the Hornets though has his winning streak reached double figures. Saturday brings the Man City-Watford reverse fixture at the Etihad, and well this should really end up being a very one-sided affair. City leads the all-time series 21-6, with five draws. Lately, this series has been extremely lopsided , and we expect that trend to continue this weekend. Let’s look at the team news for this one.
Watford at Manchester City FYIs
Kick-off time: 3PM GMT, Sat 23rd April 2022, The Etihad
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go here
Google Result Probability: Watford win 3% Draw 9% Man City win 88%
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Form Guide (All Competitions): Watford (LLJLWL) Man City (WDWDW)
Man City Team News
Kyle Walker (ankle problem) will be absent once again while fellow defenders John Stones and Nathan Ake both picked up knocks in the win over Brighton on Wednesday night.
Neither issue is thought to be a serious problem, but they most likely won’t be risked here, especially so against a side that the Cityzens have so thoroughly dominated. So this means that Ruben Dias, who came off the bench in midweek against Brighton, could come back into the first team. He’s now most likely fully match fit and 100% recovered from injury.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.