Arsenal will travel to Vicarage Road this Sunday to take on Quique Sánchez Flores’ Watford FC.
The Hornets are currently sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table having failed to pick up even a single win due to which the management decided to sack former manager Javi Garcia and appoint Flores as their new boss.
And according to Mark Lawrenson, Watford could stop Arsenal from picking up all three points during Sunday’s clash due to the fact that the players will be eager to get onto the good books of the newly appointed manager.
“Quique Sanchez Flores is back in charge of Watford after Javi Gracia was sacked over the international break, and at least he will not need time to get to know his squad – there are still several players there from his previous stint in charge,” Lawrenson told BBC Sport.
“It is a surprise to see a manager sacked after four games of the season, then replaced by the man he had succeeded, but this is Watford. They don’t follow the manual – they write it themselves.
“But Sanchez Flores should give Watford a lift – I think he is one of the best managers they have had in the past few years.
“But even allowing for the ‘new manager bounce’ and the fact that I think we will see a reaction from the Watford players, I don’t see them getting their first win of the season.
“They will cause Arsenal some problems though. The Gunners have got lots of quality going forward but their defensive issues remain.
“Unless they can play brilliant attacking football for 90-plus minutes, which is almost impossible, they are going to concede goals. That is where Unai Emery’s side are at right now.”
VERDICT:
Last season Watford finished 11th on the league table but someone the players haven’t been able to carry forward that form into the current season.
But the ‘new manager bounce’ is something that has clearly caught a lot of opponents off guards and Lawrenson believes that the Gunners will be the next big name to suffer its consequences.
And in order for that to happen, Wolves will have to score more than once during the 90 minutes and this will be really hard for them to achieve against Arsenal especially since the Hornets have managed to score just two goals in their first four matches.
