Football - Watford v Man Utd preview
Watford v Man Utd preview
Ashley Young is relishing the prospect of a return to his former club Watford where three points will take his Manchester United side to the Barclays Premier League summit.
Saturday's early kick-off at Vicarage Road gives Louis van Gaal's team, currently two points shy of top spot, the chance to steal a march on nearest rivals Manchester City, Arsenal and Leicester City, who are not in action until later in the day.
It is a ground where England international Young underwent his footballing education and made his first steps in the BPL before joining Aston Villa in January 2007. "I'm really looking forward to going back," he told United's official website. "It's the club where I started and learnt my trade and, hopefully, it'll be a nice reception.
"There will be quite a lot of my family going to the game, so it'll be nice to go back. "I started at Watford when I was 10 and left at 21, so I was there for a long time. It set me up and helped me get to where I am today and I thank everyone who was there at the time who I worked with."
Following promotion last season, Watford have impressed under manager Quique Sanchez Flores on their top-flight return - amassing 16 points thanks largely to a miserly defence that has been breached only 12 times in as many matches. "It won't be an easy match," Young cautioned. "A lot of people wrote them off at the start of the season but they're a team that works hard and gets players on the ball, and they score goals.
"They've been in good form recently but hopefully we can go there and get the three points."
Michael Carrick (ankle) and Anthony Martial (foot) are major doubts for Van Gaal having sustained injuries while on international duty with England and France respectively.
Watford have no new injury worries, with their captain Troy Deeney enjoying adapting to BPL level. A free-scoring striker in the Championship over the past three seasons, it took the 27-year-old until the 10th time of asking to get off the mark against Stoke City this time around.
He followed that up with another goal in the 2-1 loss at Leicester before the international break and he remains firmly focused on proving himself at the top level, while taking the occasional prices of fame in his stride. "What I would say is the more successful you become the more isolated you make yourself," Deeney told the Watford Observer.
"I don't want any distractions. I've worked really hard to get to this position and I want to enjoy it. I don't want to lose it over something stupid. "I think my son has noticed that sometimes people are coming up to me in the street and asking for pictures. When that happens he keeps on walking with his mum while I stop and have a chat."
Watford (from): Arlauskis, Gilmartin, Gomes, Ake, Belkalem, Britos, Cathcart, Hoban, Holebas, Nyom, Paredes, Prodl, Abdi, Anya, Behrami, Capoue, Dyer, Guedioura, Jurado, Watson, Berghuis, Deeney, Diamanti, Ibarbo, Ighalo, Oulare.
Manchester United (from): De Gea, Romero, Johnstone, Valdes, Darmian, Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Varela, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Lingard, Mata, Pereira, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Young, Depay, Martial, Rooney, Wilson.
Match Appointments
Referee: Robert Madley Assistants: M McDonough, M Perry Fourth Official: A Taylor