Premier League pdates from the 5.30pm GMT kick-offLive scores: the goals as they go in around the UK and EuropeSend your thoughts to Scott by email here 4.55pm GMT That’s an intriguing selection by Javi Gracia. A surprise to see Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu on the bench. Is Gracia keeping Watford’s powder dry ahead of the big FA Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace next weekend? Then again, it’s not as though Deeney and Deulofeu - or Adrian Mariappa, Craig Cathcart, Will Hughes and Roberto Pereyra - did the business at Anfield a couple of weeks ago. So a different approach is worth a shot. Does Gracia have something up his sleeve? 4.45pm GMT Manchester City make two changes to the starting XI named for the 1-0 victory at Bournemouth last Saturday. John Stones and Kevin de Bruyne are injured, so Vincent Kompany and Riyad Mahrez take their places.Watford make a whopping seven changes to the team named for the last-gasp 2-1 win over Watford at Vicarage Road last Sunday. Miguel Britos, Christian Kabasele, Adam Masina, Kiko Femenia, Tom Cleverley, Andre Gray and Isaac Success take the places of Adrian Mariappa, Craig Cathcart, Jose Holebas, Will Hughes, Roberto Pereyra, Gerard Deulofeu and Troy Deeney. 4.32pm GMT Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling.Subs: Danilo, Laporte, Delph, Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Foden, Muric.Watford: Foster, Janmaat, Britos, Kabasele, Masina, Capoue, Doucoure, Femenia, Cleverley, Gray, Success.Subs: Gomes, Deulofeu, Deeney, Sema, Cathcart, Quina, Holebas. 2.34pm GMT Having hit the front of the Premier League race at last, here’s where the reigning champions Manchester City are expected to pull away. Victory over Watford this evening - they’re 7-1 on with your local turf accountant - will see them pull four points clear of second-placed Liverpool. That’ll really put the pressure on the Reds when they host Burnley tomorrow lunchtime.City are on a hot sequence of results, even by their own lofty standards. They’ve won 15 of their last 17 matches, and one of the other two was a goalless draw that ended with them winning a penalty shoot-out and the first silverware of the season. The aggregate score during this period: 54-8. At this point, Watford are permitted to take a deep gulp. Especially as, on their last ten visits to the blue half of Manchester, they’ve conceded three goals on six occasions, shipped four goals on another, and lost nine times. Since winning promotion in 2015, Watford have lost every match against City to an aggregate score of 22-3. Continue readingreadfullarticle
