Wednesday night’s clash at the Etihad is a huge game for Pep Guaridola's misfiring Manchester City, but Walter Mazzari and his Watford side will be confident of producing an upset, with momentum in their favour and very little pressure to produce.
City are without main man Sergio Aguero and midfield kingpin Fernandinho. Watford welcome back Roberto Pereyra who missed Saturday's 3-2 win over Everton due to suspension.
The key battle – Otamendi v Okaka
Watford will almost certainly go to the Etihad and look to expose City’s shaky defence, who conceded four at struggling Leicester this weekend. Stefano Okaka bagged a brace against Everton and will be looking to add to his tally. The monstrous striker caused Ashley Williams and co all sorts of problems at Vicarage Road and Nicolas Otamendi will have to try and nullify his threat if City are to prevail.
If City can stop Watford being dominant in the air and restrict their chances, then it could be a long night for the hornets. However, if Okaka and Deeney are allowed to bully the fragile City backline, then Watford will fancy their chances of getting a result.
Watford’s plan
Mazzari opted for a variation of 4-4-2 formation in Saturday's win over Everton and it worked well as Watford recovered from a slow start to bully their opponents physically and win the game. Mazzari is likely to deploy the same system at the Etihad as Pep’s side are not the most solid defensive unit and tend to struggle against strong physical teams.
Watford will undoubtedly look to use Troy Deeney and Stefano Okaka’s aerial abilities but have very talented technicians in their midfield such as Roberto Pereyra and Nordin Amrabat, who will look to create chances and cause problems for City’s less than impressive defence.
Troy Deeney is still stuck on 99 Watford goals and will again go looking for his century on Wednesday night, if he rediscovers his scoring touch then Watford could be on for a famous win in Manchester.