Manchester United vs Watford: Premier League score, goals and updates
- Manchester United have won 15 of the past 16 meetings in all competitions
- Watford are winless in all 11 away league visits to Manchester United
- Gerard Deulofeu has provided four goals and two assists in his past four league appearances
- United are unbeaten in 12 league matches at Old Trafford since defeat by Tottenham
MANCHESTER UNITED vs WATFORD
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Jones, Shaw, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Martial, Rashford
Watford XI: Foster, Janmaat, Britos, Kabasele, Masina, Capoue, Hughes, Doucoure, Pereyra, Deulofeu, Deeney
Be wise, Ole
14:15: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has vowed to spend smartly. Not like me paying £6.50 for a bottle of beer last night. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.
Anyway, the Norwegian knows their domestic and European hopes can only be improved with new faces and discussions were held with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward long before his permanent appointment.
United tend to make three or four signings every summer and Solskjaer has vowed to act intelligently in this ever-inflating transfer market.
“United is a club that has money, and that has to be spent in a reasonable way,” he said. “People who know me, know that I will use that in a good way.
“We have a plan with the club, they have scouted players for longer than I have been here, and we have players that we need to keep.
“We will not spend money just to spend money.”
Manchester United vs Watford: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
Latest
14:10: Manchester City are in cruise control against relegated Fulham. OK, not officially relegated but 13 points off safety with a -43 goal difference and six games remaining – the writing is on the wall.
Bernardo Silva grabbed the opener inside five minutes and Sergio Aguero doubled the visitors’ lead soon after. The Argentine was forced off with an injury on the hour-mark, which is obviously devastating news for the FPL community.
My thoughts are with them…
Team news
14:05: Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw and Nemanja Matic have shaken off the injuries that forced them out of international duty to start.
Romelu Lukaku is able to take his place on the bench after overcoming an issue of his own, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making four changes from the FA Cup loss at Wolves in his first match as permanent manager.
Victor Lindelof is replaced in defence by Phil Jones, while Watford boss Javi Gracia made five changes at Old Trafford.
Manchester United vs Watford: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
The line-ups
14:00: And here is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first starting XI as permanent Manchester United manager. What a time to be alive.
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Jones, Shaw, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Martial, Rashford.
Subs: Romero, Lukaku, Lingard, Pereira, Rojo, Fred, Dalot.
Watford XI: Foster, Janmaat, Britos, Kabasele, Masina, Capoue, Hughes, Doucoure, Pereyra, Deulofeu, Deeney.
Subs: Gomes, Success, Cathcart, Gray, Quina, Femenia, Holebas.
The honeymoon is over
13:55: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’ success as interim manager made his permanent claim to the Manchester United job impossible to ignore.
But having auditioned so superbly, a less sympathetic phase begins as he works to prove he was the right choice despite his inexperience.
A run of two defeats to Arsenal and Wolves must be ended against Watford to avoid any early-reign jitters setting in.
Twitter round-up
Stephen: Despite all the positivity with Ole’s appointment, it’s imperative that the team remember we went into the break with two poor performances resulting in 2 defeats. Need to get at Watford from the off & get our top 4 quest back on track!
Shan: I’ll be honest I don’t expect OGS to win us the title next season but within 3 years we will, we need prepare the right way like Liverpool have in order to make sure we’re consistent title contenders rather than taking a shot at it every couple of seasons.
Manchester United vs Watford: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
Afternoon…
13:50: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Premier League.
Everyone feeling splendid and tremendous today? I went to a birthday party last night and made an astonishing rookie error.
I danced.
Back gone, hamstrings pulled, knees packed up and dignity nearing an all-time low…
Moving swiftly on, we’re at Old Trafford to see whether PERMANENT Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can overcome Watford and leapfrog Arsenal into the top four.
Team news and line-ups incoming…
Manchester United vs Watford: Premier League score, goals and updates (Image: GETTY)
MANCHESTER UNITED vs WATFORD
There are questions over the fitness of Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial after they pulled out of playing in internationals.
Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, who went on a warm-weather training camp to Dubai, will be hoping to return, while Eric Bailly is a doubt and Victor Lindelof’s partner gave birth over the international break.
Jose Holebas will miss out for Watford because of an ankle injury. The Hornets have no injuries to report for the players involved in the recent international break. Tom Cleverley has a calf problem and his fitness is being monitored, but the midfielder is destined to miss out against his former club.
Last season: Man Utd 1 Watford 0, Watford 2 Man Utd 4
Last five league matches: Man Utd W D W W L; Watford W W L W L
Top scorers (all competitions): Romelu Lukaku (Man Utd) 15; Troy Deeney (Watford) 9