Watford vs Man City
Vicarage Road, London
Tuesday, 21-07-2020 @8pm
Ref: Michael Oliver
Manchester City are on a 12-match winning streak against the Hornets, by an overall aggregate score of 46-6. City won September’s reverse fixture 8-0 and also beat Watford 6-0 in last season’s FA Cup final. Watford are winless in the last 17 meetings between the sides in all competitions (D2, L15). The Hornets’ most recent victory over City was a 1-0 home triumph in the second tier in March 1989.
Watford duo Troy Deeney and Adam Masina are being assessed after they were substituted at West Ham, while Etienne Capoue is again an injury doubt. Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Isaac Success continue to be absent.
Manchester City are expected to make changes to the side beaten in with FA Cup semi-final. Fernandinho, Rodri and Phil Foden in contention to return. Sergio Aguero and Claudio Bravo remain sidelined by injury.
All six of Watford’s home league wins this season came under former boss Nigel Pearson. They have lost only two of their nine previous home games against current top 10 sides (W3, D4). Watford are looking to become the first club to beat both the Premier League champions and runners-up at home in a single season since Manchester United in 2016-17. The Hornets have kept only one clean sheet in their last 13 league fixtures. Troy Deeney can score in three consecutive league matches for the first time since February 2017. Four of Deeney’s last six home league goals have been penalties.
Manchester City have accrued a league-high 18 points since the restart and scored a division-best 25 goals. Pep Guardiola’s side are looking to win four consecutive league fixtures for the first time this campaign. City have lost four of their past six away league matches (W2) and failed to score in three of them. They haven’t lost their final away game of a Premier League season since the 2008-09 campaign (W8, D2). City need to score four times versus the Hornets to equal the Premier League record of 12 goals against an opponent in a single season. Guardiola’s men have scored 93 Premier League goals this term, at least 16 more than any other club. Riyad Mahrez has scored in seven of his nine league appearances against Watford. Raheem Sterling has scored six goals and assisted one in his last two appearances against the Hornets. City are unbeaten in the 33 games in which Gabriel Jesus has scored, winning 32.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
Villa Park, Birmingham
Tuesday, 21-07-2020 @10:15pm
Ref: Chris Kavanagh
Aston Villa’s on-loan midfielder Danny Drinkwater could make a first appearance since the restart after recovering from a minor injury. Kortney Hause is expected to return to the match-day squad but Neil Taylor is sidelined with a hamstring problem.
Arsenal may rotate their squad with Eddie Nketiah available following suspension and Cedric Soares no longer cup tied. Shkodran Mustafi has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Aston Villa have lost six consecutive Premier League matches against Arsenal, by an aggregate score of 19-3. Villa are winless in 17 Premier League home fixtures (D7, L10), since a 3-2 triumph on 13 December 1998.
Aston Villa will be relegated if Watford better their result against Manchester City. Villa have lost 21 of their 36 Premier League fixtures this season. They have only lost more than 20 Premier League matches on one other occasion, when they were relegated in 2015-16. They can go three league games unbeaten for only the second time this season. Villa can win consecutive Premier League home matches for the first time since May 2015 under Tim Sherwood. However, they have not beaten established top-six opposition (D2, L22) since a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 11 April 2015.
Arsenal (53) are guaranteed to end this campaign on their lowest points total for a 38-match Premier League season. They could finish outside of the top six for just the third time in Premier League history. The Gunners are unbeaten in 18 of their 20 matches versus teams below them in the table (W10, D8, L2). Both defeats were against Brighton & Hove Albion. If Arsenal fail to win this match they will end the season with only four away victories, equalling the club record for fewest wins on the road. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 66 goals for Arsenal in all competitions. Since his debut for the club, only Mohamed Salah (68) has scored more among Premier League players. Nicolas Pepe has been involved in 17 goals in all competitions for Arsenal this season (8 goals, 9 assists) – only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (27) has been involved in more.
Upcoming Premier League fixtures
Wednesday, 22-07-2020
-Man United vs West Ham United @8pm
-Liverpool vs Chelsea @10:15pm
Premier League results on Monday
-Brighton 0-0 Newcastle United
-Sheffield United 0-1 Everton
-Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace
