Watford vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction

Follow all the latest updates as the champions visit Vicarage Road

(AFP via Getty Images)

A potentially pivotal day in the title race, which began in east London before late drama at Wolverhampton, ended with Manchester City fans singing “We are top of the league” into the cold evening air at Vicarage Road. Chelsea’s defeat at West Ham opened the door and City swaggered through with a dominant 3-1 win over Watford, most notable for the joyful brilliance of Bernardo Silva.

If Mohamed Salah is the early frontrunner for the Premier League’s player of the season, Bernardo is his nearest rival making a concerted charge. The Portuguese scored two sublime goals here, the first exhibiting his delicate touch in tight spaces, the second showing off the accuracy of his unerring left foot. City rarely rely on the gift of a single star but sometimes one comes to the fore – think of Kevin De Bruyne in 19/20, or Ilkay Gundogan last season – and this feels unequivocally like the year of Bernardo.

Follow all the latest rection below to Man City’s win at Watford.

Watford vs Man City

• 5:30pm GMT kick-off
• Watford XI - Bachmann, Femenia, Rose, Cathcart, Troost-Ekong, Louza, Cleverley, Sissoko, Dennis, Pedro, King
• Man City XI - Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, Silva, Sterling, Foden, Grealish
• 4’ - Sterling heads in early on from close range
• 30’ - Silva finishes second after several spurned chances
• 64’ - A brace for Silva makes it three with a curling effort into the top corner
• 74’ - Hernandez pulls one back off the bench for the hosts

[4 December 2021 11:23 · Jamie Braidwood]

West Ham vs Chelsea: Team news

Chelsea have been handed a boost with Reece James and Jorginho set to return to their starting line-up for the trip to West Ham. The pair was absent due to injury on Wednesday as Thomas Tuchel’s side scraped past Watford at Vicarage Road - but manager Thomas Tuchel has hailed their returns.

“It’s massive, because Reece is the specialist on the right, and Jorgi is the guy left from Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and him from the three on whose shoulders we put the central role over a very long period now,” Tuchel said.

Chelsea are still without sidelined quartet Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic N’Golo Kante and Ben Chilwell for the east London trip, while Romelu Lukaku is yet to start since returning from an ankle injury.

Confirmed line-ups are five minutes away.

[4 December 2021 11:15 · Lawrence Ostlere]

West Ham vs Chelsea

Premier League leaders Chelsea head east today visiting high-flying West Ham United in a tricky-looking fixture. The Blues are without several first-team options due to injury and hold just a one-point lead at the top of the table, making every game a must-win encounter for them if they want to end a five-year wait for the title. The Hammers are fourth, but a recent drop-off has seen them take just one point from the last three matches since the international break.

Manager David Moyes thinks it’ll click soon isn’t overly concerned at recent defeats as he wants the team to test themselves against the best. “We’re playing the Champions League winners. Last week we played the Champions League finalists as well. I said a few weeks ago, I really want us to play the best teams and see how we do and see where we are at, it is the only way to find out,” he said.

Thomas Tuchel expects a couple of players to return after injury for this fixture and noted that on-loan midfielder Saul could feature at wing-back in the coming weeks, having struggled to get game time in the middle of the park this season.