MATCHDAY: Watford hosts City fighting drop after coach exits

Posted July 20, 2020 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

A look at what's happening around European soccer on Tuesday:

ENGLAND

Watford has Hayden Mullins back in temporary charge after Nigel Pearson was the team's third manager to be fired this season with only two games remaining. Runner-up Manchester City is the visitor to Watford, which is three points and one place above the Premier League relegation zone. Captain Troy Deeney has denied that Pearson was dismissed following a dressing room altercation on Friday at West Ham where Watford lost 3-1. Deeny told beIN Sports that Pearson 'œdidn't put his hands on anybody. He was just frustrated and had a firm talking to us. No one was fighting, no one was punched.'ť Aston Villa is directly below Watford and also has a tough match against Arsenal, which is only 10th in the standings but beat City on Saturday to reach the FA Cup final.

ITALY

Two of the best teams of the restart meet when AC Milan visits Sassuolo. Europa League-chasing Milan is unbeaten over the last month, while Sassuolo's only loss after the stop for the coronavirus pandemic came at high-flying Atalanta in its first match back. Atalanta, the only other team unbeaten in the restart, hosts Bologna following a relative drop in form with two draws in its last three games. Atalanta secured its Champions League place and a top-four finish following a draw at Hellas Verona on Saturday.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Atalanta's Duvan Zapata, right, celebrates with his teammate Alejandro Gomez after scoring his side's opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between Hellas Verona and Atalanta at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium in Verona, Italy, Saturday, July 18, 2020. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP) The Associated Press

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