Manchester City vs Watford: Roman Pavlyuchenko's Bet

Manchester City faces Watford in the Round of 16 of the English League Cup. I don't expect much intrigue in this match. The fact that City has had less preparation time won't aid the visitors.

Manchester City has drawn their last two matches, but that doesn’t reflect poor form for Guardiola's team. In the Champions League, they delivered an impressive tactical performance against Inter, where City came close to victory. Last weekend, they faced Arsenal in a crucial league match, ending in another 2-2 draw. Most action took place in the first half, where Arsenal finished with ten men. As a result, City dominated the second half in the opponent's box but managed to equalize only towards the end.

In other matches, City has consistently secured victories. They parallel Watford, who also started the season strongly with a string of wins, including several convincing clean-sheet victories like 3-0 against Stoke City and 5-0 against Milton Keynes. However, Watford's recent performances have been lackluster, suffering losses to Sheffield (0-1) and Norwich (1-4), and drawing with Coventry City (1-1).

Overall, I believe Watford's results are not very significant here. Even if they had only secured wins this season, their chances against Manchester City would be minimal. Yes, City has just come off a challenging match against Arsenal, but that was more emotionally taxing than physically exhausting.

I anticipate that City will enter the field in good spirits, play their game, and win without significant trouble. Even their second-string players are much stronger than Watford. I am betting on Manchester City to win with a -2 handicap at odds of 1.80.