5 talking points from Manchester City's win over Watford

Manchester City cruised to a 3-1 victory against Watford at the Etihad, re-establishing their 15 point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Goals from Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, and a Christian Kabasele own goal gave City a comfortable 3-0 lead before Andre Gray turned home from close range eight minutes from time as a consolation for the Hornets.

Here are five talking points that arose from the City’s victory at the Etihad:

#5 Silva makes the difference

Silva returned to the City line-up after missing the last two matches

After two games without the Spaniard in the heart of midfield, David Silva returned for Manchester City, and he made a huge difference to their play.

It was somewhat surprising that Pep Guardiola played such a strong team given the form Watford have been in and the fact that City would have almost certainly beat the Hornets without Kevin De Bruyne and either of Sterling or Leroy Sane.

But, wanting a reaction after dropping points to Crystal Palace on Saturday, Guardiola went full strength. Did he get the reaction he wanted? Certainly.

Silva, De Bruyne, Sane, Sterling, and Aguero all linked up excellently all evening and should have contributed to more than just three goals in total.

However, of all five, the one who stood out the most was Silva. The central midfielder is the heartbeat of this City side and the team plays with such elegance and pace when he is involved.

In the past two matches, against Newcastle and Crystal Palace they scored just one goal, which has been unlike them this season. The Spaniard being missing seemed a direct reason for the lack of goals, and it was unsurprising that on his return, City was amongst the goals once again.

Although he didn’t set up any of the goals, his perfectly weighted balls for both Sane and De Bruyne for the first two goals were of huge importance. His return will be much welcomed by Guardiola, and will certainly help the way he wants to play.

#4 Watford continue to leak goals

Watford are now without a clean sheet in their last nine games

Watford have now failed to keep a clean sheet for nine straight matches, and with their defence, it’s unlikely that run is going to end any time soon.

The team has big troubles at centre-back, and ideally, need to find a new central defender if they’re going to get better results. Although Marco Silva looked to be working wonders, keeping three clean sheets in his first four games, shipping six goals against Manchester City seemed to start a downward spiral at the back.

Since their 2-0 win and clean sheet at St Mary’s way back in September against Southampton, they’ve kept just two clean sheets in 17 games Premier League games.

Those two clean sheets came against Newcastle and West Ham, both of whom were in dreadful form and in the bottom half of the table. This suggests that without replacements in defence, the team will continue to concede goals against almost every team in the Premier League.

They have not struggled for goals this season, and even got on the scoresheet at the Etihad, something not many teams have done. But for Silva to boost his chances of a bigger job this summer or anytime in the near future, he will need to improve the results at Watford and start keeping some more clean sheets.

#3 City back to free-scoring ways

The Manchester City team celebrate getting back to winning ways

After a two-game blip of scoring just one goal, City returned to their best, smashing three past Watford.

It was hardly a blip, but given how City have been playing this season, they didn’t perform how Guardiola would have liked in their last two matches.

In their draw to Crystal Palace last time out, which ended their winning run at 18 matches, they lacked conviction in front of goal and failed to create many clear-cut chances. Before that against Newcastle, they created the chances, but only scored one.

Tonight, they again missed some great opportunities, but the goals still came. This just shows the high volume of chances they create in each game, especially at the Etihad Stadium.

That is now the eighth time, in 11 home matches, that City has scored three goals or more in the league this season, a phenomenal record. And it is no surprise that it was just a two-game blip in front of goal, due to the team's quality going forward.

It will certainly not be the last time that they score at least three goals at home too. They put in some incredible deliveries which are flashed across the box, which few team can handle.

For example tonight, two goals came from this specific tactic, and it is also a tactic that has seen them score the majority of their goals this season.

#2 What has happened to the Hornets?

Silva has a huge job on his hands to recover Watford's poor form

As already mentioned, Watford has kept just five clean sheets this season, none in their last nine, and have conceded the second most goals in the division.

However, they are still in the top half of the table. Why is this? Luckily for them, they were doing well at the beginning of the season and also luckily for them, the teams at the bottom have failed to pick up many points.

But regardless of the results of other teams, Watford need to take a look in the mirror. What has happened to the Hornets? They have won just one of their last nine matches and picked up just four points along the way and they are just five points clear of the relegation zone.

They are in real trouble, and despite their league position looking good, they could easily be drawn into a relegation battle soon if they don’t pick up some results. Silva has a tough job on his hands and may need to spend some money in January to solidify his defence.

They have crunch matches coming up against Southampton and Stoke City in their next three games. These are teams that the Hornets will be favourites to beat.

If they fail to win those games, they have both Leicester City and Chelsea either side of those games, bad results from these games could potentially drag them into the relegation battle.

#1 Could Sterling win the Golden Boot?

Sterling scored his 14th goal of the season against Watford yesterday evening

The answer is most definitely yes, Sterling can win the Golden Boot if he continues his current form and remains consistent until the end of this season.

The Englishman already has 14 goals in 20 Premier League appearances, which is five more than his highest tally in any previous season, with his league-high being for Liverpool in the 2013/14 season.

And although he doesn’t have a track record of scoring these many goals, he is currently in the form of his life under Guardiola.

Despite playing as a winger, he now takes up the positions of a striker, and that is exactly what is seeing him score so many goals. He has evidently improved in front of goal and is reaping the rewards of that, along with getting into such good positions.

Harry Kane has been magnificent once again this season and has four more goals than his fellow Englishman, but that is certainly a gap Sterling could shorten. Additionally, with the number of goals Manchester City score, it would be no surprise if he does win the individual accolade come the end of the season.

Without injury worries, the young star could win the Golden Boot, we will just have to see if his incredible form continues for the remainder of this season.