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5′ Fred draws a challenge from Mariappa and he will whip the free-kick into the box himself from the left flank.
4′ Martial almost releases the run of Lingard in the box, but Femenia gets across to clear ahead of the United midfielder.
1′ We’re underway at Vicarage Road.
Manchester United have won 11 of their 12 Premier League meetings with Watford (92%) – only against Wigan (15/16; 94%) do they have a higher win rate in the competition (min. 10 meetings).
Solskjaer has returned the majority of his starters for the clash this afternoon after allowing squad players to feature during the week against Colchester. Rashford, Martial, Maguire and Shaw are the only players to retain their spots. De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, McTominay, Fred, Lingard and James all return to the fold. Pogba makes his comeback a long injury lay-off on the bench this afternoon, appearing in the squad for the first time since September.
Watford are unchanged from their defeat at the hands of Liverpool as Pearson keeps faith in his starting line-up. Deeney continues to lead the line supported by Deulofeu, Sarr and Doucoure from deep. Cathcart and Kabasele anchor the back four, while Mariappa and Femenia remain in the full-back positions with Daryl Janmaat and Jose Holebase sidelined. Pereyra does return from injury on the bench for the Hornets.
MANCHESTER UNITED SUBS: Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Andreas Pereira, Ashley Young, Sergio Romero, Mason Greenwood, Nemanja Matic.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka; Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Fred; Daniel James, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford; Anthony Martial.
WATFORD SUBS: Heurelho Gomes, Craig Dawson, Adam Masina, Nathaniel Chalobah, Andre Gray, Isaac Success, Roberto Pereyra.
WATFORD (4-2-3-1): Ben Foster; Adrian Mariappa, Christian Kabasele, Craig Cathcart, Kiko Femenia; Etienne Capoue, Will Hughes; Ismaila Sarr, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gerard Deulofeu; Troy Deeney.
United’s winning momentum was stymied by a 1-1 draw in the Premier League last time out against Everton. The Red Devils produced excellent performances to defeat Manchester City and Tottenham, but lacked a killer instinct against the Toffees. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men advanced to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup during the week by beating Colchester United. They’re unbeaten in six matches in all competition, but United need to put teams of Watford’s ilk to the sword to compete for a top-four spot this season,.
Watford enter the contest without a win in five matches and the Hornets are eight points adrift of safety, rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. Nigel Pearson has brought a semblance of resilience to the club, drawing his first game in charge against Crystal Palace before putting in a battling performance against Liverpool, suffering a 2-0 defeat at Anfield last time out. However, Watford need points sooner rather than later and a result against United could provide a spark to jolt a survival charge.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between Watford and Manchester United at Vicarage Road.
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5′ Fred fails to find a United player in the penalty area with his delivery, allowing the Hornets to clear the danger.