Manchester City vs. Watford: Team News, Preview, Live Stream and Predictions

Manchester City welcome Watford to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening hoping three points will revive their Premier League title assault and bring them back within reach of leaders Chelsea.

A 4-2 defeat at Leicester City on Saturday has left manager Pep Guardiola's side seven points adrift of the Blues and sat in fourth, far from where the side would have hoped to be at this stage of the season.

The Hornets returned to winning ways with a 3-2 victory against Everton on Saturday—a result that lifted them up to seventh in the table—and they may feel upbeat about their chances against the Citizens in Week 16.

This is a particularly big opportunity for manager Walter Mazzarri's side considering City enter the fray with a number of high-profile squad absences that could prolong their rut.

Read on for a preview of Wednesday's midweek meeting, complete with viewing information, a score prediction and breakdown of all the latest team news.

Date: Wednesday, December 14

Time: 8 p.m. GMT/3 p.m. ET

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.)

TV Info: Fox Sports 1 (U.S.)

Manchester City	Watford
Leicester City 4-2 Manchester City	Watford 3-2 Everton
Manchester City 1-1 Celtic	West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Watford
Manchester City 1-3 Chelsea	Watford 0-1 Stoke City
Burnley 1-2 Manchester City	Watford 2-1 Leicester City
Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Manchester City	Liverpool 6-1 Watford

Team News

The Citizens will still be missing one particular pair of star faces following the 3-1 defeat at home to Chelsea in early December, however, in which Aguero and Fernandinho were each shown straight red cards.

Richard Parry of the London Evening Standard confirmed Aguero will miss four matches for his lunge on David Luiz—of which he has three games remaining—while Fernandinho was given a three-game suspension.

Vincent Kompany is still sidelined by a knee injury, but Nicolas Otamendi will be back from his one-match suspension, meaning Guardiola could revert to a four-man defence with two natural centre-backs this week.

That being said, the City defence is in difficulty after conceding eight times in its last three outings, not to mention failing to keep a clean sheet in eight games, and ESPN's John Brewin recently suggested Otamendi doesn't improve it much:

For Watford, Mazzarri was boosted by the news that midfield maestro Roberto Pereyra would see his three-game ban reduced to one match after a brawl broke out against West Bromwich Albion, per the Mirror's Mike Walters. 

The Hornets didn't need their loan star for the win over Everton, but Pereyra stands a chance of making his way back into the XI, while ESPN's Ben Dinnery confirmed Younes Kaboul could feature, although Craig Cathcart is still absent:

Preview

City are under immense pressure to end their winless run at three matches this week following defeats to Chelsea and Leicester City either side of last Tuesday's 1-1 draw against UEFA Champions League foes Celtic.

After a fearless start to his Premier League career, Guardiola—and his City side, by extension—have begun to show cracks in their performances, and England's top flight is perhaps proving to be a scarier setting than first anticipated:

Of the two clean sheets City have managed to keep in the league this season, just one has come at the Etihad Stadium, however, meaning home advantage doesn't appear to weigh heavily on the defence's sturdiness.

Aguero's absence means Kelechi Iheanacho is again in line to start in attack for City, but at the other end of the pitch, Stefano Okaka is hoping to build on the brilliant brace he put past the Toffees on Saturday:

Mazzarri may finally have discovered the striker who can relieve some of his side's attacking burden following Odion Ighalo's struggle to resurrect his best form, and City's defence could again be in trouble.

Without a win in three, the Citizens look susceptible to more damage, and Watford will travel to the Etihad knowing the chances to seal a maiden Premier League win over City won't get much brighter than this.

Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 Watford