Watford

Image source, Getty Images

With only five games remaining, Watford's chances of staying in the Premier League look very slim.

After a heavy defeat by Manchester City that leaves Roy Hodgson's side nine points away from safety, do you think relegation is now a certainty?

BBC Three Counties Radio commentator Geoff Doyle feels the Hornets' current squad is filled with too many Championship-level players not capable of keeping the club in the top flight - do you agree?

Let us know your thoughts here

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

After Manchester City’s comfortable win Roy Hodgson said he needed ticks next to all his players, indicating they had played to their maximum ability if they were to stand any chance of getting something at Etihad Stadium.

Unfortunately there weren’t enough and the inevitable occurred. It was unsurprising.

This Watford team and squad haven’t shown enough all season, let alone at one of the best clubs in the world. To get eleven ticks would mean a high level of consistency among the players, a smart indicator of just how good they actually are.

This was another nod towards the general consensus that the majority aren’t quite up to the level and they are nowhere near City’s. Rightly so. City can spend £100 million on one player.

Watford should be compared to the mid-table teams. The problem has been they haven’t been at their levels either. And that comes back to recruitment last summer and in January.

Hodgson has been criticised by some Watford fans - with some justification at times - but one wonders whether his opposite number Pep Guardiola would have done much better.

It always comes down to players. Apart from three or four these lot are Championship rather than Premier League level. And that’s where they’re heading back to.

You can now watch all the highlights and analysis from Saturday's five matches in the Premier League.

Stream the action now on BBC iPlayer

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Bevan, BBC Sport at Etihad Stadium

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was repeatedly asked whether Gabriel Jesus could leave the club in the summer after the Brazilian's brilliant four-goal display had blown Watford away at a gusty Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola made it clear he is not even thinking about that now, with his side entering the final month of what could be another stellar season with the two biggest prizes, domestically and in Europe, in their sights.

Five wins in City's five remaining games will secure the Premier League title and, while Guardiola must be hoping they are all as straightforward as Saturday's one-sided game, he knows they won't be.

So, rather than speculating whether Jesus will sign a contract extension or not before his current deal runs out in 2023, he urged focus on the task ahead on both fronts - starting with Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg with Real Madrid, every game is must-win now.

For Watford boss Roy Hodgson, staying up is the only target and the chances of that happening appear to be receding every week.

When the Hornets last won a game, against Southampton on 13 March, only goal difference kept them in the bottom three. Now, after four successive defeats, they are nine points adrift with five games to play and have a goal difference drastically worse than the two teams immediately above them.

While they won't be down mathematically if they lose their next game, against fellow strugglers Burnley on Saturday, defeat would surely end their hopes of escaping the drop.

The good news there is that the Clarets are much more beatable than City, of course, but the problem for Watford is that they face them at Vicarage Road, where they have lost their past 10 games.

Image source, Getty Images

• Manchester City have now won 15 consecutive games against Watford in all competitions, the longest-ever winning run by an English league side over another. The aggregate score in those 15 meetings is 58-8.

• The Hornets have lost 13 of their 14 Premier League games against an opponent starting the day top of the table, winning the other 3-0 against Liverpool in February 2020.

• Pep Guardiola has won all 11 of his meetings with Watford in all competitions, by an aggregate score of 47-5. It’s his best 100% win rate against an opponent in his managerial career.

• Emmanuel Dennis has been directly involved in 52% of Watford’s 31 Premier League goals this season (10 goals, six assists); only Teemu Pukki for Norwich (59%) has had a hand in a higher proportion of his club’s goals in the competition in 2021-22.

Watford boss Roy Hodgson to BBC Match of the Day: "We were architects of our own downfall. It would've been very tough here whatever happens but you need to give yourself a little bit of leeway.

"But you concede a goal in the very first minute and then just before half-time you concede a third goal. I thought that was a little bit harsh because at 2-1 I thought we were making a decent effort to stay in the game and making life as difficult for them as I could expect us to.

"But then the fourth goal, in the first minute of the second half, is unforgivable really if you seriously think you're going to come here and dent any hopes they would have of beating you so we had to pay the price for that.

"The last two matches we haven't really been that bad, it was circumstances that caused us to lose those games. I haven't got the feeling we lost them because there's no spirit, no fight or no heart. It (the relegation battle) is not over yet."

We are bringing you live text commentary of Manchester City v Watford, plus the rest of Saturday's Premier League action.

Follow all the action here

You'll be able to catch up with all the post-match reaction on this page after full-time at Etihad Stadium

Manchester City make six changes from the side that beat Brighton on Wednesday.

Ruben Dias, who returned from a hamstring injury when he came off the bench for the second half against the Seagulls, makes his first start since 1 March.

Oleksandar Zinchenko gets the nod at left-back, while Fernandinho comes into midfield to play alongside Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne.

Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish form the attack, and will be hoping to link up better than they did when they started at Wembley in last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final.

Man City XI: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodri, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Sterling, Grealish, Jesus

Subs: Steffen, Ake, Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Palmer

Image source, BBC Sport

Watford make three changes from the side that were beaten by an injury-time goal by Brentford last weekend.

Jeremy Ngakia starts at right-back for his first game since the end of February, Tom Cleverley is back in midfield and Joshua King returns up front.

Kiko Femenia and Juraj Kucka are out with minor knocks and Joao Pedro drops to the bench.

Watford XI: Foster, Ngakia, Samir, Kabasele, Kamara, Sissoko, Cleverley, Louza, Sarr, Dennis, King

Subs: Bachmann, Ekong, Pedro, Masina, Sema, Nkoulou, Cathcart, Gosling, Kayembe

Image source, BBC Sport

Mark Lawrenson takes on Austin Brown, singer and guitarist of rock band Parquet Courts, in the latest round of Premier League predictions.

Lawro's prediction: 4-0

It is not really a question of whether Manchester City will win this one, more a case of how many will they score?

City put eight past the Hornets the last time they came to Etihad Stadium in 2019 and, while I don't think the damage will be as bad this time, they should win comfortably again.

Watford boss Roy Hodgson's strength is his defensive organisation and he will set his side up to try to keep City out and make things difficult for them.

The problem there is that City are just too good. Once they get one goal, the floodgates could open.

Austin's prediction: A good friend of mine, Euan, who plays saxophone for the Welsh musician Cate le Bon, is a big Watford fan and he was a mascot when he was a kid. He got quite upset with me recently when I told him they were going down and it would be a good thing because the games would be better for them in the Championship. He didn't like that much. We don't have promotion and relegation in America so I guess I don't fully understand the concept on an emotional level! 4-0

Find out how Lawro and Austin Brown, singer and guitarist of the Parquet Courts, think the rest of the weekend's fixtures will go

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City will assess the fitness of Nathan Ake and John Stones, who were forced off in the win over Brighton.

Kyle Walker is doubtful because of the ankle injury he sustained against Atletico Madrid.

Watford could welcome back defender William Troost-Ekong, who has not featured since the Africa Cup of Nations because of a hamstring injury.

Samuel Kalu and Francisco Sierralta are yet to resume full training, while Cucho Hernandez remains out.

Pick your City side to face Watford

Who makes your Hornets XI?

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

Even the most optimistic Watford fan might struggle to find plausible reasons as to why the Hornets should get anything at Etihad Stadium.

Watford have lost more games in the Premier League than any other. They face a City side battling for the title with Liverpool and a goal difference deficit of six to make up. Pep Guardiola's side might think they can make inroads into that on Saturday.

Roy Hodgson's side are preparing for this one like they did for the Liverpool game at Anfield at the beginning of the month. It worked pretty well on Merseyside and will have to be repeated for Watford to stay in the game like they did against Jurgen Klopp's team.

They will look to frustrate the current champions, try to close space and catch them on the counter-attack. Even then they will be cautious. Hodgson has spoken about how dangerous City are on the break themselves.

This is a funny time for Watford fans. Most have accepted that relegation is inevitable. They are seven points adrift and after this match will have five games left which they will probably have to win all of to survive. It's more a question of 'when' rather than 'if'.

It's difficult not to look ahead to life in the Championship and try to work out which players might still be on the books at Vicarage Road. To make up the television money shortfall some of the top players will have to be sold but the owners rarely allow anyone to leave who won't make them a profit.

With a bigger parachute payment to be given this season the hope is that it should be even easier for the relegated Premier League clubs to come back up at the first time of asking.

Image source, Getty Images

Pep Guardiola has praised Watford manager Roy Hodgson and says it's "not true" that he did not speak with him after Crystal Palace won at Etihad Stadium.

Hodgson said on Thursday that Guardiola "would probably never speak to me again" if the Hornets pulled off a shock victory on Saturday and the City boss is wary of their threat.

"After games, I speak to managers, I invite them for a glass of wine," said Guardiola. "If he beats me, we celebrate. Why should we not be friends?

"You are happier when you win, sad when you lose, so I'm sure it was a joke.

"He has incredible experience as a manager. We struggled to break down Palace when he was there.

"With their quality and their physicality upfront, we will have to be ourselves to get the three points."

• Manchester City have won their past 14 meetings with Watford and could become the first English league side in history to win 15 consecutive competitive games against an opponent.

• Watford have lost 11 of their past 12 away games against City, with the exception being a 0-0 draw in December 2006. Their last away win against City was in the top flight in April 1987 (2-1).

• Pep Guardiola's side have won 15 of their past 16 Premier League games against sides in the relegation zone (D1), since a 3-2 loss against Norwich in September 2019. Since drawing 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion in December 2020, the Citizens have won their past nine such matches by an aggregate score of 31-0.

• The Hornets have taken just one point from 39 available in away league games against reigning top-flight champions (W0 D1 L12), drawing 2-2 at Chelsea in December 2015. The Hornets have conceded 45 goals in these 13 games, losing 8-0 at City last time out.

Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave reunite in the middle of gameweek 33 to discuss potential wildcard teams, the form of Bruno Guimaraes and whether a throw-in should be classed as a set-piece.

Also, listener Jonah Philpott joins the podcast to try to restore family honour in Sutton Death.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Watford manager Roy Hodgson wants to upset Pep Guardiola again on Saturday and launch a late bid for Premier League survival in the most unlikely place.

The Hornets have lost their past 14 matches to Premier League leaders Manchester City and have not beaten them since 1989.

The former England boss did, however, mastermind a 3-2 win at Etihad Stadium in 2018 and also held City to a draw two years ago while in charge of Crystal Palace.

Last weekend’s late defeat at home to Brentford left his side seven points from safety with six games left.

But Hodgson will not send the Hornets out to go toe-to-toe with slick-passing City and is instead planning a pragmatic performance that frustrates Guardiola and his players.

“What we’re going to do is try to make ourselves unpopular,” said the former Liverpool manager.

“If we want to make ourselves popular with Pep, the City crowd and everyone else, we go hell for leather to try to win the game and match them at their own game.

“At least 99% of people, certainly those who work in football, know that is a recipe for disaster. We need to make life as difficult for them as we possibly can.

"Pep didn’t speak to me for a long while after Palace managed to steal a win up there and if we get a win this time, he will probably never speak to me again!”

Roy Hodgson has been speaking to the media as Watford prepare to face Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from the Hornets boss:

• There's good news for Hodgson as defender William Troost-Ekong has returned to full training after recovering from a slight hamstring strain.

• However, Cucho Hernandez is sidelined because of an issue with his hamstring, while Samuel Kalu and Francisco Sierralta, who both missed the game against Brentford, will take part in modified sessions on Thursday.

• The Watford boss knows the enormity of the task that faces his side when they travel to Etihad Stadium at the weekend. Hodgson acknowledged the "wealth of talent" Pep Guardiola has at his disposal.

• After an agonising defeat by Brentford last weekend, Hodgson said he is hoping Watford's confidence "hasn't been totally shattered" by Pontus Jansson's late goal. He felt the Hornets' second-half performance was one of their best in a long while.

• Watford could have a hand in the title race if they manage to grab a result against league leaders City. Hodgson said they will meet a "deadly serious" team on Saturday. If City don't get three points, it could be a "massive blow to them", adds Hodgson.

• Hodgson revealed Pep Guardiola didn't speak to him "for a long time" after Crystal Palace managed to secure a win at the Etihad under his management in 2018. He then joked the Spanish boss "might never speak to me again" if Watford repeat the same feat.

Watford travel north on Saturday for a daunting match against Manchester City.

But who should Roy Hodgson be backing to go toe-to-toe with the reigning champions?

The Hornets gave a decent account at Anfield earlier this month so should he be following a similar blueprint?

It's time to pick your Watford side to face Manchester City

It's another busy week of Premier League commentaries across BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra as the race for the title, the hunt to finish in the Champions League places and the battle to avoid relegation continues.

Tuesday, 19 April

• Liverpool v Manchester United (20:00)

Wednesday, 20 April

• Chelsea v Arsenal (19:45)

• Everton v Leicester (19:45, Sports Extra)

Thursday, 21 April

• Burnley v Southampton (19:45)

Saturday, 23 April

• Manchester City v Watford (15:00)

Sunday, 24 April

• Chelsea v West Ham (14:00)

• Liverpool v Everton (16:30)

All times BST