Game Week 15 Predictions: City to have Hornets for dinner at Vicarage Road

Gabriel Jesus will look to continue his strong run away from home with City's trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Watford vs Manchester City
Vicarage Road
6:30pm

Manchester City remain in the hunt for top spot in the premier league currently occupied by Chelsea who travel to West London neighbors Westham earlier on Saturday.

The Cityzens were stretched but found ways to dispatch stubborn Aston Villa in midweek, helping themselves back to second spot on the log, just one off the leaders but also one ahead of Liverpool breathing down their necks in third.

Watford aren’t favored with fixtures at the moment but it gets easier after this considering they played Arsenal, Chelsea and United in the last few weeks back to back but the scalp of United that they took helps them to dream anywhere they go.

The Hornets troubled Chelsea with Emmanuel Dennis passing late fitness test to be available against the Blues, he did find the net to ensure they went into the break equal but Hakim Ziyech fired the visitors in front in the second half and that was enough to settle the affair.

Manchester City rammed eight past Watford but in the reverse fixture about two seasons ago, that must be very fresh in the minds of the hosts considering the amount of talent available in the City side, handbrake is needed to avoid heavy bashing.

Dare to dream is the deal, sitting just above the drop zone and likely to drop in should Burnley beat Newcastle at St. James’s Park earlier on Saturday, the feeling of ignominy that sets in must be something Claudio Ranieri and co would love to avoid.

City are through to the round of 16 in the Champions League, they have nothing to worry about at least for now so expect them to try their best to dust off Watford cleanly.

How will Watford approach this? They still have a few men on the injury list with Adam Masina joining in the first half against Chelsea, they will have to make do with a very thin squad at least until January when they can plunge into the market.

Watford have not scored a single goal against the champions in three attempts and they have lost all of their last five to Pep Guardiola’s side including an embarrassing Wembley showdown in the FA Cup final, City won 6-0.

Whatever happens on Saturday, the Tinkerman must prepare for the busy Christmas schedule where they can pick points off lesser teams, not sure he’ll have much joy here.