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After a bad start to the season that had the calls for Arsene Wenger to resign from Arsenal starting to grow louder again, things have turned around over the last month to the point that as they get set to face a struggling Watford side, the Gunners are set to potentially win their fifth-straight match in all competitions, and their fourth in five matches in the English Premier League.
Arsenal have risen to fifth place on the strength of that run, not quite where they want to be at the end of the season, but they’re also level on points with fourth-place Chelsea and just one point behind another London arch-rival in third-place Tottenham Hotspur. Another win and any slip-ups by those two teams put Arsenal right back in the top four where they want to be, and within spitting distance of the top two.
Despite being just one point behind the Gunners, things don’t feel nearly as rosy for Watford, who have struggled to get in gear in many of their matches lately, including listless draws against West Bromwich United and Brighton & Hove Albion, plus a confidence-shattering 6-0 loss to Manchester City. A win over Arsenal would be a good way to get things back on the rails, but a team that started the season looking entertaining have been struggling to do much of anything lately, and a win does not feel likely here.
Arsenal are badly battered by injuries right now, with Mesut Özil, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck, Sead Kolasinac, and Santi Cazorla all hurt. That’s a lot of players who should be starting in this match or expected to play a significant role off the bench, and it’s going to make Arsene Wenger’s job harder because of it. Watford FC aren’t much healthier right now, with Nathaniel Chalobah, Younes Kaboul, Craig Cathcart, Sebastian Prödl, Issac Success, and Thomas Hoban all hurt.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. local
Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium, Watford, England
TV: NBC (U.S. - English), Universo (U.S. - Spanish), BT Sport 1 (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live, NBC Sports.com (U.S.), BT Sport Live (U.K.)
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Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.