Christian Kabasele is expecting to face a Manchester City with something to prove in Watford's game at the Etihad this weekend.

The Citizens lost their last Premier League fixture against new boys Norwich and the Belgian defender is preparing for a reaction from the champions.

Recent games against City have not gone well for the Hornets, with a 6-0 defeat in the FA Cup final preceded by a 3-1 away loss and a 2-1 home defeat in the league last season.

What's more, City have won the last 11 games between the two teams in all competitions, while the Hornets have not come out on top in a match between the two since March 1989, losing 14 and drawing twice since.

After their defeat to the Canaries, and having lost two of their main central defenders to injury, there is a chance Watford could reverse their poor fortunes against City on Saturday, but Kabasele is still preparing to face a side reeling from a shock loss.

Furthermore, the 28-year-old believes the Hornets still have some work to do defensively if they are to stand a chance.

"Of course it's [City] one of the best teams in the league with Liverpool," said the defender.

"And they lost their last game, so they will want to put the things right next week.

"Obviously [things are] not [much better] because we conceded two goals [against Arsenal].

"I think that we shouldn't concede, but it's okay because the second half was better, we just conceded these two goals as the main chance for them.

"In the second-half we were more compact, that's why we had a good result."

Kabasele spoke of Quique Sanchez Flores' impact on Watford's defensive structure and says he now wants to work on becoming a mainstay in the starting lineup.

"No matter how high we were on the pitch, he wanted us to be compact," he said.

"We will try to work for each other and that's what we try to do.

"Like everybody, the main goal is to try to play all the games. After it's the choice of the manager, I think he will always try to choose the better thing for the team and it's up to each player to be focused on their work and to try to help the team as far as we can."