Man United looked all set to lose to Atletico Madrid in their Champions League clash but the Premier League side fought back brilliantly in the second half to salvage a 1-1 draw.
With their tails up, Man United will now take on Watford in the Premier League and given how they fought against Atletico, we expect them to pick up a win on Saturday at Old Trafford.
The home side have won their last 8 home matches against Watford in all competitions and they are also undefeated in their last 7 Premier League games. Yes, they have dropped some unnecessary points but their performances have been steadily improving as well.
The Hornets are in a total mess right now as they have lost three and drawn one out of their previous five league outings and currently they are 19th on the league table. While they did pick up a win against Aston Villa two weeks ago, we really don’t expect them to put up a fight against Manchester United this weekend.
United are still holding onto the fourth spot on the table but Arsenal are rapidly chasing them down for that final UCL spot. The OT outfit need to win on Saturday at any cost since anything other than three points will likely see them drop out of the top-four.
Man United team news vs Watford:
Lindelof, Maguire and Raphael Varane all started vs Atletico so one of them is surely going to move to the bench. Given that Varane has picked up some knocks this season, he could be the one who is rested on Saturday.
Dalot and Alex Telles both started on the bench on Wednesday so they too will come back into the side. Shaw has been the first-choice left-back for the past few weeks but he is going to get a watching brief this weekend.
Feeling confident! 💪🏻 The team was brave today. Now we count on you for the home game. Bring on United.🔥🔥 @ManUtd @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/9bT1qlFBWa
— Alex Telles (@AT13Oficial) February 23, 2022
Paul Pogba had a really poor outing in midfield vs Simeone’s side and he had to be taken off in the 66th minute. Ralf Rangnick had admitted last week that he is probably going to rest some players against Watford and after his average performance against Atletico, Pogba is surely going to be one of them.
McTominay missed the UCL clash due to illness and if he is not ready for the Hornets clash then Nemanja Matic is going to come into midfield to feature alongside Fred.
Speaking ahead of the 1-1 draw, Rangnick had said: “He’s[McTominay] ill unfortunately. I spoke with him this afternoon and he’s still not feeling well. We had a little bit of hope that he might be available.”
Man United are on the longest current unbeaten run of any side in the Premier League (7) 💪 pic.twitter.com/GXi7e4es7H
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 23, 2022
With Edinson Cavani still missing, Cristiano Ronaldo is the obvious choice upfront but the 37-year-old has been playing constantly over the previous few weeks so the manager should be resting him.
United take on teams like Man City, Spurs and Liverpool in the coming weeks and the last thing they will want is for CR7 to get injured. If Rangnick has rotation on his mind then Ronaldo will be rested and Rashford could play in his place as the centre-forward.
Man United’s absentees vs Watford:
McTominay – Illness – Doubtful.
Edinson Cavani – Groin Injury – Ruled out.
Mason Greenwood – Unavailable.
Head to Head:
Man United – 9
Draw – 0
Watford – 3
Odds:
Man United to win – 1.3
Draw – 5.5
Watford to win – 9.5
Prediction:
Man United 2-0 Watford
