Arsenal vs. Watford preview: the finale

Arsenal’s Championship Sunday matchup with Watford had a bit of the sting taken out of it when the Gunners lost to Aston Villa last weekend. The Gunners have nothing to play for tomorrow, and Mikel Arteta is expected to rest key players ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup Final. Watford, on the other hand, have it all to play for and do not control their survival fate. The Hornets look likely to be relegated; Aston Villa need only to match Watford’s result (net scoreline included) to stay up.

Watford tried to shake things up by sacking manager Nigel Pearson two matches ago, but interim head coach Hayden Mullins wasn’t able to conjure any magic from his side against Manchester City. Watford have struggled since the restart, going 2-1-5 and only scoring 7 goals in 8 matches.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said that he’d respect the relegation battle and “play as strong a team” as he can, but I suspect he is much more concerned with the FA Cup Final against Chelsea on August 1st and will do whatever he feels necessary to set Arsenal up for success in the match where European competition is on the line as opposed to for a dead rubber league match. Nathan took his usual stab at predicting Arsenal’s starting 11, check it out.

When the two sides met way back in mid-September, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired the Gunners to a 2-0 first half lead. Watford pegged the Gunners back in the second half, getting the draw off a late Roberto Pereyra penalty.

The Gunners will be without the services of Shkodran Mustafi tomorrow and against Chelsea next week after the centerback picked up a hamstring injury against Manchester City. Bernd Leno posted a video of himself training individually and is expected back in full training next week. Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil are still in the doghouse and unlikely to make the matchday squad. The long-term injuries are unchanged.

Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Isaac Success are sidelined for Watford. Etienne Capoue faces a late fitness test to determine his availability for the visitors.

Arsenal will be wearing their 2020-21 home kits tomorrow.

I’m sure NONE of the Arsenal players or fans remember Troy Deeney’s comments about the club’s “cojones” a few years ago, until I just brought it up, that is, especially now that Arsenal has a chance to relegate him and his side.

WHAT: Arsenal vs. Watford
WHERE: The Emirates
WHEN: 8 AM PT | 11 AM ET | 4 PM BT
US TV: Golf Channel

Also streaming on Peacock and NBC Sports Gold ON REPLAY ONLY. As far as I can tell, if you don’t have Golf Channel in your cable package, you will not be able to watch the match live.

Here’s a bit more about NBC’s new platform as it affects Premier League broadcasts for next season. Additionally, if you sign up for a Peacock account from an Android device, you get three months of the with-ads service for free.

For all your international streaming needs, check LiveSoccer.tv. Please do not share or discuss links to illegal streams here.

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