- Watford lost 3 straight PL games
- Hornets fallen to 12th in PL table
- Swansea: 1 win in last 11 PL games
- Swans now in the relegation zone
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Swansea City’s status as a Premier League club is in clear and present danger, while Watford find themselves in the midst of the worst run of results during their current run as a top-division side. When the two sides face off on Monday (Watch live at 2 p.m. ET, on NBCSN and online via Live Extra), only will three points be on the line, but a bit of much-needed momentum for two spiraling-out-of-control sides, to boot.
When the two sides met for the first time this season, back in September, it was a 10-man Watford side that took all three points, courtesy of an Odion Ighalo game-winning goal. Ighalo has gone on to score 13 goals in 21 PL appearances this season for Watford, making him the third-highest scorer in the league; having scored 13 or Watford’s 25 league goals this season (52 percent), no other player has come close to accounting for a high percentage of his team’s goals (three players are responsible for 38 percent of their teams’ goals - Jamie Vardy, Romelu Lukaku and Georginio Wijnaldum).
[ MORE: Saturday’s PL roundup | Liverpool 0-1 Man Utd | Stoke 0-0 Arsenal ]
On the injury front, both sides come into Monday’s meeting remarkably healthy; not a single player from either side is listed on the latest injury report. With both sides struggling of late and sliding the wrong direction in the league table, managers Alan Curtis and Quique Sanchez Flores will feel a bit optimistic having a full squad from which to select their respective teams.
What they’re saying
Swansea interim manager Alan Curtis: “The most important thing is that we get back on track. It would be great to win the game because it would be demoralizing to lose three league games in a row. … The performances have been decent but our results have been a little disappointing. You can see the concerns of the supporters but that’s the situation we find ourselves in.”
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores: “Except for the Southampton match, we are playing very well against amazing teams. … It is our power that we are consistent; we have our rules when we play. We work together — as a block, as a unit.”
Prediction
Watford may be winless in three games, but losing consecutive games to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Southampton is a fate to which most newly promoted sides would be resigned. The pace and aggression with which they attack is exactly the type of intense pressure with which Swansea have struggled to cope this season. It’s a terrible matchup for Swansea, and the ideal opponent for a Watford rebound. Swansea 1-3 Watford.
