FOOTYBOT
Matchday

Championship 26/27 · 12 Sep 2026

Watford 1–2 Stoke City

Expected and what happened

Before the match, from team ratings for Aug 2026; the outlined result is what happened.

Expected xG
1.5 – 0.8
Actual xG
0.4 – 1.4
Goals
1 – 2

Footybot made Watford favourites at 53%.

Stoke City won and made the better chances: 1.4 xG to 0.4.

Best on the pitch by Footybot's score: Ben Wilmot, 52.3 in 90′.

Well above their usual level: Eric Bocat +20.5, Ben Wilmot +14.6, Ethan Galbraith +8.6.

Well below it: Omar Haktab Traore −20.2, Kévin Keben Biakolo −19.4, Edo Kayembe −14.8.

Going in

Each side's last five results before this match.

Watford

8 Sep 2026W 2–1v Preston North End Championship
5 Sep 2026L 0–1at West Bromwich Albion Championship
1 Sep 2026L 0–2at Swansea City Championship
29 Aug 2026D 1–1v West Ham United Championship
25 Aug 2026L 1–5v Peterborough United EFL Cup

Stoke City

8 Sep 2026D 1–1at Cardiff City Championship
5 Sep 2026W 4–0v Charlton Athletic Championship
1 Sep 2026W 1–0v Norwich City Championship
29 Aug 2026L 1–4at Wolverhampton Championship
25 Aug 2026D 1–1v Hull City EFL Cup

Head to head

14 Mar 2026Stoke City 3–1 Watford Championship
20 Dec 2025Watford 1–0 Stoke City Championship

Watford

PlayerMinGAxGScorevs usual
Amin Nabizada Forward32100.0352.6–
Luca Kjerrumgaard Forward21000.0742.3–
Rocco Vata Forward3200–37.6–
Federico Ravaglia Goalkeeper9000–37.5−13.2
Mamadou Doumbia Forward90000.0736.9−5.0
Hector Kyprianou Midfielder90000.1336.8−7.7
Soumaila Coulibaly Defender9000–35.4−12.1
Iker Bravo Forward6900–35.0−13.5
Matthew Pollock Defender9000–34.2−8.4
Othmane Maamma Midfielder58000.0833.6−4.4
Jordan Zemura Midfielder4200–32.0–
Edo Kayembe Midfielder9001–27.7−14.8
Stephy Mavididi Midfielder5800–27.4−4.5
Kévin Keben Biakolo Defender9000–21.4−19.4
Omar Haktab Traore Defender4800–16.5−20.2

Stoke City

PlayerMinGAxGScorevs usual
Ben Pearson Midfielder100–100.0–
Luca Bombino Defender1000–59.5–
Ben Wilmot Defender9000–52.3+14.6
Eric Bocat Defender80100.2151.8+20.5
Ethan Galbraith Midfielder90000.0751.1+8.6
Viktor Johansson Goalkeeper9000–50.2−1.6
Lamine Cissé Forward65010.2347.5+6.7
Jack McGlynn Midfielder89100.1246.2+2.0
Maksym Talovierov Defender9000–45.5+5.2
George Hirst Forward25000.3545.3–
Djibril Soumaré Midfielder9000–43.5+6.6
Luke Graham Defender9000–43.4−0.1
Justin Devenny Midfielder90000.2141.2−4.2
Ben Johnson Defender90000.2338.9−0.6