United to avenge defeat at the Hornets

not thinking you need to score one, two or three goals to win the game, which can happen if you concede first.

“This game is at Old Trafford and we need to focus on starting it very strongly and try to create as much as we can and try to be commanding in our performance.”

Today could well see boyhood United fan Odion Ighalo make his home debut against former club Watford.

The shock deadline-day arrival on loan from Shanghai Shenhua has made two appearances off the bench this week but has settled into the group along with fellow new boy Bruno Fernandes.

“We welcomed them both,” Mata said. “Bruno is a very good player, we all know that, and a very nice guy also. We have been in contact a lot.

“Odion has experience of playing in the Premier League and hopefully he will score many goals for us from now until the end of the season, and, as the manager said, he’s a good character as well and he’s got a good personality.”

Staying in the Premier League is Watford manager Nigel Pearson’s sole focus ahead of their trip to United.

Pearson has given the Hornets a fighting chance of survival since his appointment in December, with a

2-0 home win over United an obvious highlight of his short tenure so far.

Watford head north with a chance of ending the weekend outside the bottom three and Pearson wants being there in May to be the only thing on their minds.

“The Premier League is such a huge brand and it’s easy to get sidetracked. I’ve got to try and remain focused and realistic,” he said.

Pearson masterminded a survival act at Leicester in 2015, but knows he needs to find new methods this time around.

He went on: “Every situation I’ve been in as a player, as a manager and as a head coach, the circumstances are different.

“It’s difficult to compare one against another. The Leicester season, in 14/15, was an incredible turnaround, but that side had been built over a number of years and there was an identity which was very real within the club.

“One of the big factors is recognising that things are different. I’m not a believer in that what has worked somewhere else will do somewhere else.

“Adapting to what is required and understanding what is going on at another club and trying to keep focused is what’s really important.”

Watford have never won a league game at Old Trafford and United’s impressive week would suggest that record may continue. Pearson added: “We know we’ve beaten them this season, which is good. Whether that has any bearing on the game that’s coming up, we’ll see.”