da wazamba： After comfortably seeing off Bournemouth and Southampton and grinding out a late win against Hull, it seemed as though Manchester United were getting back to their best and becoming favourites to win a 14th Premier League title.
da jogodeouro： However, last Saturday’s Manchester derby brought them back down to earth with a bang as they lost 2-1 to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal giving United a glimmer of hope, the reality is the scoreline could have been a lot worse.
Jose Mourinho’s side will be hoping to get back to winning ways and keep the pressure up on their local rivals when they travel to Vicarage Road on Sunday to face a Watford side that beat West Ham 4-2 in their last match.
So here are five reasons why Manchester United fans will be expecting Ibrahimovic, Rooney and co. to thrash Watford and get their title challenge back on track…
THE WOUNDED ANIMAL EFFECT
As Barcelona demonstrated when they thrashed Celtic 7-0 on Tuesday night, sometimes it’s a lot more threatening to play a side that’s just been beaten.
The Red Devils will not have taken kindly to losing to their arch rivals and it is highly likely a number of players will be out for blood.
Bar a catastrophic spell at Chelsea last season, Mourinho has always been good at rallying his troops and adopting a siege mentality. He will fully expect United to get back to winning ways.
WATFORD’S LEAKY DEFENCE
One of the keys to Watford avoiding relegation and going on to secure a respectable 13th place finish last season was a solid defense.
Granted things dropped off a bit towards the end of the season but for the most part, Quique Flores had them playing as a solid unit in front of keeper Heurelho Gomes, leading to 11 clean sheets.
Whether it is new manager Walter Mazzarri’s tactics or something else in the Hornets ranks, they have not shown the same resilience this season having conceded an average of two goals a game.
COMPETITION FOR PLACES
After spending over £150m this summer, Jose Mourinho arguably has the strongest squad in the league.
England international Chris Smalling, young starlet Marcus Rashford, and new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan have seen little playing time this season, demonstrating the quality Mourinho is able to call upon.
Mourinho has hinted that players who aren’t playing in the league will get a chance in the Europa League, meaning there is little room for error for those currently in the first team with able replacements at the ready.
Similarly, players like Rashford know that a strong performance against the likes of Feyenoord on Thursday could see them force their way into the side.
UNITED ALWAYS BEAT WATFORD
A statistic to encourage United fans: the Red Devils have a 100% win record over Watford in the Premier League; in fact, they haven’t lost to them for 30 years.
In the six games they have played since 1992, United have also managed 20 goals to Watford’s 7 and even beat them 4-1 in the 2007 FA Cup.
Last season United beat Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road and 1-0 at Old Trafford, with Juan Mata scoring the winner.
ZLATAN
Matches like these can often be won or lost by one man and in those instances you want that man to be a player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Some people (like myself) wondered how long it would take Ibrahimovic to adjust to English football but the Swede has dispelled any fears with the winner in the community shield and four goals in his first four Premier League games, making him joint top scorer.
On his day Ibrahimovic can bully any defence and beat any goalkeeper (just ask Joe Hart). Watford may be in for a torrid time if Zlatan is in the mood.