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Premier League 2016-2017: Watford vs Arsenal, Preview, Prediction & Predicted Lineup

| Aug 23, 2016 01:19 AM EDT

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez (R) drives past Leicester City's Danny Drinkwater.

Winless teams Watford FC (0-1-1, 1 point) and Arsenal FC (0-1-1, 1 points) will try to earn their first victory in the 2016-2017 Premier League season as they square off against one another at the former's home field of Vicarage Road this Saturday, August 27, for a Week 3 English top flight encounter.

Watford, who placed 13th last term as one of the newly-promoted clubs, settled for a 1-1 draw with Southampton in their season-opener on Aug. 13 before dropping a controversial 1-2 decision to Chelsea last Saturday also at their home stadium, via SkySports.

After a scoreless first half, the Hornets netted the opening goal of the match at the 55th minute with a brilliant volley from Étienne Capoue after gathering a deep cross from the right side of the pitch from Algerian midfielder Adlène Guedioura.

However, the Blues managed to fight back in the last 10 minutes of regulation as French forward Michy Batshuayi leveled the count at the 80th while Spanish striker Diego Costa provided the game-winning goal once more for Chelsea after eluding a second yellow card booking earlier in the match.

Meanwhile, powerhouse team Arsenal has also failed to snag a win in their first two games this term as they dropped a high-scoring 3-4 game to Liverpool during their opener then settled for a 0-0 stalemate with Leicester City last Saturday at the King Power Stadium, The Guardian reported.

Head coach Arsene Wenger was questioned by the media after the match regarding his "reluctance" to spend money on big-name stars during the ongoing summer transfer window, which many analysts were saying would make a huge difference for the improvement of the squad.

The chant "spend some money" was yelled by a few Arsenal fans in one corner of the King Power Stadium during the match against the Foxes, with some expletives included, but it was ignored by the 66-year-old French mentor.

"Why do you say I am reluctant? I don't understand that. If we find players who can strengthen our team we are not reluctant. I would spend £300 million if I find the right player and I have £300 million," Wenger said in the post-match interview.

The predicted result is a tough 2-1 decision for Arsenal.

Watford starting lineup (3-1-4-2 formation): Gomes; Cathcart, Prödl, Britos; Behrami; Amrabat, Guedioura, Capoue, Holebas; Deeney, Ighalo

Arsenal starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Cech; Bellerín, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Walcott, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez 

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