Manchester United vs Watford 23/02/20

23 February 2020

The Premier League (PL) top-four fighters Manchester United will entertain relegation-threatened Watford at Old Trafford this weekend looking to return the favor after succumbing 2-0 in the reverse fixture.

The hosts are unbeaten in five consecutive games in all competitions (W3, D2) and have not conceded a goal in the last two league outings. In turn, the Red Devils have kept a clean sheet in four of their previous six top-flight home clashes against Watford, winning all six. Yet, they’ve gone from back-to-back PL home victories to two straight matches here without a win (D1, L1), drawing a blank on both of those occasions. Moreover, just one win in their previous four PL fixtures (D1, L2) means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men trail fourth-placed Chelsea by three points. Massive scoring problems have seen United net over 1.5 goals in less than 50% (6) of their 13 PL home games so far this season, even though the majority (24) of their total 38 PL goals scored came at Old Trafford (63.16%).

Meanwhile, the visitors have suffered another dip in form as they head to Manchester on a run of four straight league matches without a win (D2, L2). The fourth joint-worst away side in England’s top division, the Hornets have managed just ten of the 24 PL points on the road (41.67%), picking up a single win in their last seven away games (D2, L4). Curiously, three of their four failures in that period saw Watford lose the second half via the same 2-0 score after keeping a clean sheet in the opening 45 minutes. Also, particularly ponderous in attack after the break, Nigel Pearson’s players have scored only three of the 11 league away goals in the second half, managing to hurt their opponent in the final 15 minutes of play in just one of 13 PL trips thus far.