MANCHESTER UNITED welcome a Watford side to Old Trafford who are battling for their lives in the English Premier League.
Both teams were in action in very different circumstances in midweek. United were in Spain against La Liga champions Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and battled back to snatch an impressive draw after a truly dire first half display.
United remain a model of inconsistency. They deserved to beat Leeds United last week in a wonderfully entertaining and muddy clash at Elland Road, but folded at the first signs of pressure before recovering to win well.
Watford were handed a hammer blow to their survival chances as Crystal Palace walloped them at Vicarage Road in a 4-1 win and they are deep trouble in second bottom and four points off safety having played a game more.
The arrival of Roy Hodgson initially appeared to have injected some life into the Hornets who looked utterly doomed under Claudio Ranieri. Their impressive win at Aston Villa last week was their first league victory since they thumped Manchester United at Vicarage Road in November.
But their midweek humbling is a severe setback and United will go into this game full of confidence having only having lost once in 90 minutes in all competitions since their Watford disaster.
How the bookies view it
United are obviously warm favourites at 3/10 with bet365. Watford are as big as 9/1 with SBK and the draw can be backed at 9/2 with 10Bet.
Recent head to heads
Arguably one of former manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's darkest days was when Watford walloped them for four at home in November as can be seen below.
However, United have won the last ten meetings between the sides at Old Trafford with the visitors scoring just three times in that spell.
Players to watch
Anthony Elanga scored as a sub after coming on against Leeds United last week and Atletico in midweek and has impressed. He could well get a start here and is 11/5 with Unibet to score anytime.
Nigerian hitman Emmanuel Dennis was the hero at Villa Park last week with a late winner and he has a decent haul of nine goals this season for Watford. He is 5/1 to score anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Watford's leaky defence and United having kept just one clean sheet in six, there should be goals at Old Trafford. Over 2.5 goals and a home win looks a solid investment at 10/11 with Paddy Power.
The last time Watford were actually leading at half time was in December 10 and they ended up losing that too. With United too short to back on their own, try the Red Devils to win half time and full time at evens with Ladbrokes.
This English Premier League match between Manchester United and Watford will be played on Feb 26, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester United vs Watford prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
