Stoke vs Watford prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-10-01 11:00.
It’s been a really inconsistent start to the new season for Stoke City, highlighted by the fact they’ve yet to record the same successive results in the campaign so far (W3, D3, L4). Manager Alex Neil was upbeat though following the 0-0 draw to Queen Park Rangers before the international break, stating it was “pleasing” to get a draw away to the Londoners, especially while having “a lot of injuries”, as he put it.
Neil would have welcomed the international break in order to get his squad patched up and ready to kick on, and while there’s not been too much to celebrate from his inconsistent outfit so far, one facet of their game that does look to be improving is the defence. Since previous manager Michael O’Neill was sacked, Stoke have conceded just three goals in five league matches, including two clean sheets across their last two outings. They also boast a shutout in two of their last three home H2H clashes with Watford (W1, D1, L1).
It’s been that all too familiar feeling of deja vu at Watford this week after manager Rob Edwards, who was their 17th manager in ten years under Gino Pozzo's ownership, was sacked on Monday after just ten league matches. In came Slaven Bilić to replace him, and based on the ownership's track record, he’ll know he will have to hit the ground running if he still wants to be in a job come Christmas!
Bilić inherits a team sitting two points above their opponents in midtable, having actually lost only two league games all season (W3, D5, L2). Their issue though has been too many draws – only Preston and West Brom had recorded more coming into the weekend. Better starts could be key to converting more of those draws into victories, especially given Bilić’s new side have conceded 73% (eight) of their league goals this season inside the opening 45 minutes.
Players to watch: Lewis Baker is undoubtedly Stoke’s dangerman right now, playing a direct role in six of their 11 league goals this season (G4, A2). The hosts won’t be looking forward to coming up against Ismaïla Sarr given he scored winning goals in both H2H league meetings the last time Watford were in the Championship.
Hot stat: Stoke have committed more fouls than any other Championship side so far (120).