Arsenal v Watford: Premier League – live!

Charles has emailed in to praise Motty.

He types: “Props to John Motson, who will probably be patronised half to death on the BBC today. In spite of all that, he was a consummately good broadcaster; true, he has been overtaken by shifting standards and values, and now looks and sounds odd; but in his time, he was among the best.”

Doucoure has been a revelation in the Watford midfield this season, so much so he has been linked with a move to Arsenal, which is unfortunate for him. He has brought goals and midfield domination which has forced the Hornets to offer him a new deal but he is yet to sign, laving him to consider his options as bigger clubs hover.

Rob has tweeted in, as you also can, to point out he is better than all of us.

Simon (Burnton) has emailed in to, rightly, correct me. He says: “Against Everton a couple of weeks back Femenia came on in the second half and played on the right wing, in front of Janmaat. He and Okaka, also a substitute, changed the game in Watford’s favour and surely it’s more likely that he’ll be playing in the more advanced position today.”

My source was the Watford Twitter account, who have lied to me!!!

We should also note that today will be John Motson’s final live commentary for the BBC. What a career the sheepskinned supremo has enjoyed. Here’s Paul MacInnes on the great man.

Baz has looked towards the World Cup on who should and should not go as part of the England squad.

Arsenal’s front four looks pretty scary but their fans are more frightened by their own back four nowadays. It is not one that fills you with confidence, none of the defenders nor goalkeeper have showered themselves in glory so far this season, so it looks like a reworking will be needed in the summer, meaning a number of those on show are playing for their Arsenal careers now.

Petr Cech seems to be worried that Troy Deeney might be a tricky opponent due to his physicality but Arsenal should not have too much to worry about with Holding and Mustafi at the back. Oh…

Watford’s new right-winger is Daryl Janmaat, which is interesting. I am sure he used to be Newcastle’s right-back. Is the Dutchman the right man for that position or are the Hornets just desperately short of players and ideas?

Nick Miller has written about Mesut Ozil and why he is so good when he wants to be, Thursday night being a case in point. Will he work his magic again or just doing his disappearing act today?

Just had my reduced M&S sandwich and now have some weird ‘healthy snack’ as I watch the Old Firm derby. My mum will not mind that I am missing a Sunday lunch with her for this. Admittedly, she is in Manchester and I am in London, so there are various factors involved in me being a terrible son.

Watford have won the last two Premier League games between the two clubs, admittedly Arsenal were victorious in the first seven. The 2-1 scoreline at the Emirates last season was particularly galling for home fans as ex-Spurs man Younes Kaboul was on the scoresheet, with the game pretty much settled with two goals scored in three minutes early on. Not much has changed at Arsenal since, either.

Finally Wenger is talking of “cojones” he speaks many a language but his metaphorical testicle chat has been limited over the years and finally now he has succumbed to it.

The versatile Maitland-Niles will today be at right-back. On Thursday he was forced into action on the other side of the defence and has also been used in midfield this season. That sort of adaptability in a player will see him go a long way, it will just need to make sure he finds his preferred role in a team and not become a Milner, not that there is anything with Jimmy M, who I have a lot of time for, but there it has held him back in certain ways over his career as he has been forced to fill in here, there and everywhere over the years.

Happy mother’s day to all!

Mainly to the mother’s but I am happy to extend to anyone else celebrating.

Having renewed my Facebook feed this morning, it turns out my mother is not the best in the world and many have better ones. It was a tough piece of news to break to her this morning when I phoned.

Arsenal: Cech; Maitland-Niles, Holding, Mustafi, Kolasinac; Elneny, Xhaka; Ozil, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan; Aubameyang

Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Willock, Nelson, Wilshere, Nketiah

Watford: Karnezis; Femenía, Prödl, Mariappa, Holebas; Doucouré, Capoue; Janmaat, Pereyra, Richarlison; Deeney

Subs: Bachmann , Britos, Hughes, Carrillo, Sinclair, Gray, Okaka.

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Afternoon!

The knock-on effects from West Ham versus Burnley continue as I am drafted in from the late MBM to this as Jacob Steinberg is currently head in hands at home wondering if things can get any worse.

Speaking of hitting rock bottom, Arsenal won a game this week so things are certainly getting better for them and their fans, as they look set to progress in the Europa League at Milan’s expense, giving them some hope. Mesut Ozil was superb in Italy on Thursday so it would be nice of him to show a similar standard tonight against a team not much worse than Milan. A win for Arsenal would take them to just eight points behind Chelsea in fifth, which is nothing to brag about.

Watford are in 10th and pretty much have nothing to play for in the next two months, which is a tedious position to be in. If we are lucky they will see this as a big derby and do their best to make it into a game as they seek to keep their latest manager in employment beyond May, which is a rarity for Watford.

Either way, I think it will be a pretty entertaining one, so a 0-0 is guaranteed now.

Will will be here shortly. Here’s our match preview:

Arsenal showed ‘cojones’ in the Europa League win at Milan on Thursday – something the Watford captain, Troy Deeney, accused them of lacking at Vicarage Road in October. Arsène Wenger’s players might want to prove a point to him but, really, the oomph has been knocked from their Premier League season. It is now the Europa League or bust. Watford have won three out of their past four matches. As ever, the mood at the Emirates will be a sub-plot. David Hytner