Michael Owen has predicted his former side Manchester United to comfortably beat Watford in their FA Cup third-round clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Hornets have fallen off the pace in their race for promotion in recent weeks, collecting just 10 points from their previous 10 Championship matches which has seen them slip to 6th in the second-tier standings.

However, the FA Cup should provide a welcome distraction for Xisco Munoz's side, although Watford have lost on each of their previous 10 visits to the Theatre of Dreams, including a 3-0 defeat back in February.

Meanwhile, despite the Red Devils producing some excellent Premier League form in recent weeks, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were beaten by neighbours Manchester City in the last-four of the Carabao Cup in midweek - their fourth semi-final defeat on the bounce.

 

Can you name each of these 17 ex-Watford players just by looking at these 3 clues?

 

 

But Owen, who won the FA Cup with Liverpool back in 2001, expects United to bounce back from their midweek loss.

He told Bet Victor: "Despite playing well in patches, Manchester United were eliminated from the EFL Cup on Wednesday night against rivals City.

"They are creating plenty of chances, and I can see Edison Cavani playing a big part once he gets back from suspension.

"The striker will miss this one, although I still think United have enough about them to safely go through."

The Verdict

With games coming thick and fast, Solskjaer will surely make a host of changes, but it'll only mean the likes of Jesse Lingard, Mason Greenwood and Juan Mata coming into the side.

The FA Cup probably isn't too high on Munoz's priority list, and for those reasons, I full expect the hosts to have more than enough to ensure they progress to the fourth round.