HomeTeams - PLArsenalArsenal vs Watford Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

Arsenal vs Watford Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

Arsenal will be getting ready to host Watford in Tuesday night’s Premier League game as the Gunners look to edge closer to Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Having won six of their last seven games, Arsenal are in brilliant form right now, a fact only made more apparent with their incredible game against Southampton. The Gunners scored five goals and conceded none. That’s right, they maintained a clean sheet and reaped the benefits of a Theo Walcott hat-trick and a Danny Welbeck brace.

Watford, on the other hand, have been struggling to find their footing this season. They have not earned a win in their last two games, drawing both of them. They drew their previous game 2-2 against Bournemouth and will have to face a mighty challenge in the form of Arsenal at the Emirates stadium.

Team News

Arsenal

Granit Xhaka is suspended for this match after picking up a red card in the game vs. Burnley. Santi Cazorla missed most of this season due to injuries, and is another huge absentee for the Gunners.

Petr Cech should return in goal in this Premier League game against Watford, while in defense, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal are likely to feature.

Watford

To make matters worse for the club, there is a long list of injuries for the Hornets. Manager Walter Mazzari will not be able to call on the services of Christian Kabasele, Valon Behrami, Nordin Amrabat, and Roberto Pereyra, as all are sidelined due to injuries.

Similarly, Adrian Mariappa, Jose Holebas, and Isaac Success will also miss the Arsenal game due to their respective injuries.

League head to head

27/08/2016 Premier League 2016/2017 Watford 1 – 3 Arsenal
02/04/2016 Premier League 2015/2016 Arsenal 4 – 0 Watford
13/03/2016 FA Cup 2015/2016 Arsenal 1 – 2 Watford
17/10/2015 Premier League 2015/2016 Watford 0 – 3 Arsenal
26/12/2006 Premier League 2006/2007 Watford 1 – 2 Arsenal
14/10/2006 Premier League 2006/2007 Arsenal 3 – 0 Watford

Interesting Facts

The Hornets claimed their first win against the Gunners for 28 years when they knocked them out of the FA Cup last March.

Watford had won only two of their 10 Premier League home games in 2016 – with those victories coming against Newcastle and Aston Villa.

Key Players

Arsenal – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed highly in the centre midfield role against Southampton. So, Arsene Wenger may reward him with a start in this game. In fact, it might even be said that it was his best performance in a long time in the centre of the midfield.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was creative, aggressive and defensively sound. This was as good as he’s ever performed for Arsenal. Considering some of the trepidation voiced when the teams were announced, Ox has truly proven that he has what it takes, and will leave a mark even in the game against Watford.

Watford – Joshua King

Considering the drab performances Watford have been putting up, Joshua King was perhaps the only good thing about their match against Middlesbrough. He managed to beat Ben Gibson all ends up to draw a foul, even though he could’ve done better with the resulting free kick.

On Tuesday night, he will need to use his strength and girth to give Arsenal something to worry about.

Prediction

As a result, an Arsenal victory seems most likely. The match will probably end in a 2-1 victory for Arsenal.

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