Watford vs Stoke prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-28 19:45.
Watford manager Valérien Ismaël has warned his side that they need to vastly improve after suffering an untimely blow in their play-off chase. The boss criticised his players for a “sloppy” performance as they conceded four goals in a league game for the first time in nearly a year by losing 4-1 to Bristol City on Boxing Day, as they slipped to only a second defeat in their last seven outings (W4, D1) in the process.
Worryingly, both of those losses have come at Vicarage Road, where they are without a victory in three outings (D1) and have only registered five league successes all season, the joint-lowest total in the top half of the table. And there’s no guarantee they’ll add to that win total in their final game of 2023 as they were heavily beaten in their last game of the calendar year in 2021 and 2022, conceding four goals in each!
Recent history suggests they should be confident of turning around their recent bad run though, given visitors Stoke have only won one of the last ten Championship H2Hs (D2, L7). If it’s any consolation to the Potters though, that victory did come earlier this season, a 1-0 success at the Britannia Stadium in August, while they also dished out a 3-1 beating to Birmingham City on Tuesday.
That was their first victory under new manager Steven Schumacher, who says his side now have a platform to build on after ending their nine-game wait for a success (D5, L4). They’ve now opened up a seven point cushion to the relegation zone, but with only 12 points earned on the road this season (W2, D3, L6), the boss knows he will have his work cut out to mastermind another triumph and add a further three points to that total.
Key battle: Striker Mileta Rajović remains unbeaten in games in which he has scored for Watford since joining the club last summer (W4, D2). He will put that record to the test against Stoke defender Michael Rose, who has helped his side keep three clean sheets in five H2Hs (W2, D1, L2).
Hot streak: Seven successive Watford matches have seen both teams score.