Overview
Manchester City just had a thrilling Super Sunday match with Arsenal in round 5 of the Premier League. The Citizens narrowly escaped defeat with a goal in the last seconds by John Stones.
However, Man City received bad news when star midfielder Rodri could be absent for the rest of the season. The EURO 2024 champion had to leave the field in the first half of the match against Arsenal after a collision with Thomas Partey. This will greatly affect the playing style as well as the operation of coach Pep Guardiola's team in the coming time.
Luckily for The Citizens, their next opponent is Watford, a team playing in the Championship and in poor form. Watford have lost 2 and drawn 1 in the last 3 rounds. With having to play away at Etihad Stadium, advancing to round 4 is almost an impossible task for them.
The match against Watford was an opportunity for Guardiola to rotate his squad, giving players who have had little playing time a chance. Despite playing with a reserve team, Man City still completely outperformed Watford.
This could even be a big win for Man City to create favorable psychological momentum for the upcoming difficult period.
Man City have won all 15 of their last meetings with Watford, scoring three or more goals in six of their last six. They are also on a 17-match unbeaten run at home, including 13 wins and four draws.
Human resources situation
In addition to Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake on the home side are likely to be absent. Meanwhile, pillars such as Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva will be given a chance to rest by Guardiola.
On the other side of the front line, Watford has a problem in defense with the injury of goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann, along with 2 central defenders Francisco Sierralta and Kevin Keben.
Expected lineup:
Man City: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Simpson-Pusey, Wilson-Esbrand, Nunes, Kovacic, O'Reilly, McAtee, Grealish, Foden.
Watford: Bond, Morris, Pollock, Porteous, Andrews, Dele-Bashiru, Sissoko, Sema, Chakvetadze, Baah, Bayo.
The match between Man City and Watford takes place at 1:45 a.m. on September 25 (Vietnam time).
