Watford vs Arsenal: 3 Key Battles Which Could Decide The Outcome Of The Game

Watford vs Arsenal: 3 Key Battles

Watford hosts Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday in the Premier League aiming to keep their survival plan firmly on track. The Gunners struggled in the opening six league games to score goals this season, but Arsene Wenger’s men have stormed to second place thanks to eight goals in two victories over Leicester City and Manchester United. Watford manager Quique Flores will be more than happy with the start his side have made on their return to the Premier League. They have lost only twice so far, one of which came away at league leaders Manchester City. This has left the Hornets sitting comfortably in mid-table at this admittedly early stage.

Here are the three key battles which could decide the outcome of this match.

1. Ozil vs Capoue

The most interesting clash of this match will be between Arsenal’s on form playmaker Mesut Ozil and Watford’s summer signing from Tottenham Etienne Capoue. Watford have conceded only one goal in nearly six hours of football on their home ground, that is also the best defensive record in the league. Capoue has been a key factor in this defensive success, quietly going about his business since his summer move.

On the other hand, the German playmaker Ozil has created 28 chances so far this season from open play, as well as four assists and one goal.  It will be Capoue’s job to keep tabs on the Arsenal midfielder, if he is able to close Ozil down quickly he may be able to nullify the playmakers passing ability.

2. Sanchez vs Nyom and Prodl

After a dry spell recently, Alexis Sanchez has suddenly burst into life scoring nine goals for club and country in his last five matches. Sanchez has become both Arsenal’s talisman and catalyst. It’s true that other players have also upped their game, but Arsenal manager Wenger knows that it is Sanchez who could be the difference between another top four position or the title. He will up against the right-sided duo of Nyom and Prodl, who have also been their side’s best performer this season.

Nyom has been consistent this season with solid performances match after match while Prodl is excellent in keeping Watford’s back four organized and focused all the time. If Arsenal are going to win this match they know that Sanchez has to win this battle against these two Watford defenders.

3. Odion Ighalo vs Petr Cech

The only way Watford can win this match is if their Nigerian forward Ighalo manages to beat Arsenal keeper Cech during the ninety minutes. He has already scored 5 goals, which is also 80% of the total goals scored by Watford this season. After spending 11 years at Chelsea, Cech arrived at Arsenal in the summer and after a torrid start to his career at the Emirates, he has managed to produce some outstanding performances in the last month.

He will be looking to keep a clean sheet on Saturday, which will basically mean keeping Ighalo quite. At this moment, the Nigerian looks to be the only source of success for Quique’s men but at some point Watford need to take the goal scoring burden off his shoulders.