Dias and Grealish to start — Man City predicted line up vs Watford

Manchester City will be looking to create a four-point gap at the top of the Premier League table when they welcome Watford to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola's side retained first place on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion, just 24 hours after Liverpool demolished local rivals Manchester United at Anfield. A single point still separates the two titanic title rivals, but City could put massive pressure on Liverpool's meeting with Everton on Sunday by beating the Hornets.

The Blues have an excellent record against Saturday's opponents — winning on every single occasion since a 1-1 draw in 2007. In the reverse fixture, Bernardo Silva was on fire and scored a magnificent brace on the way to a 3-1 victory at Vicarage Road - Raheem Sterling was City's other scorer that day.

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With some major injury concerns to deal with, Guardiola may have to shuffle his pack in defence to accommodate the limited options in that area of the field. Both Nathan Aké and John Stones limped off in the game against Brighton, while Kyle Walker is still recovering from a 'big twist' suffered in the Champions League.

As usual, Ederson will be between the sticks, looking to keep pace with Alisson in the race for his third consecutive Golden Glove. Joao Cancelo could well be City's only fit and available right-back, with Stones and Walker not likely to be risked.

Aké started at left-back in midweek, but his substitution at half-time signalled the Dutchman is struggling with an injury of his own, so Oleksandr Zinchenko will look to kickstart some form just at the right time. That would leave Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte — the only two