Stoke City welcome Watford to BET365 Stadium in Friday Night Football from the Sky Bet Championship.
Victory would lift Stoke up to seventh whereas Watford could go third with a win, although the Hornets could rise to second if can deliver a thrashing of five or more goals.
Team News
James Chester is in line to return for Stoke after serving a one match ban in their 3-3 draw at Rotherham on Tuesday.
Lee Gregory (groin), Tyrese Campbell (knee) and Morgan Fox (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Watford have no fresh injury concerns after Tuesday’s win over Barnsley as goalkeeper, Ben Foster remains absent with a finger injury.
Christian Kabasele, Tom Dele-Bashiru (both knee), Domingos Quina, Stipe Percia and Isaac Success (all hamstring) remain sidelined.
Stat Attack
- Stoke have lost just one of their last six meetings against Watford (W4, D1, L1).
- Watford are unbeaten in five of their last six trips to Stoke (W3, D2, L1).
- Michael O’Neill’s Potters have scored in four of their last five home league games, scoring once in each of those four matches of which all four goals came in the first half.
Prediction
Stoke produced a fighting performance at Rotherham because when they blew their early lead, they didn’t let their shoulders drop, instead digging in with an attacking display full of chances although defending of both teams left a lot to be desired but was entertaining from a neutral perspective.
Watford meanwhile found themselves in a difficult contest against Barnsley in which Troy Deeney’s penalty proved the difference, yet the Hornets have won just one of their last nine away trips in all competitions which is a concern when coming up against a team of Stoke’s calibre.
On paper, it would be easy to say Stoke will win this if judged on form but the Potters’ home form is hardly spectacular, so I can see a tough contest between two fiercely competitive teams even though Watford have the better form in this fixture at the BET365 Stadium.
I however am plumping for a draw because there doesn’t seem to be much to separate both teams in terms of quality at present, especially if factor in home and away form respectively.
Prediction: Stoke 1-1 Watford
Result: Stoke 1-2 Watford
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