Watford vs Stoke Prediction: Can Potters record third consecutive shut-out?

Stoke City began their Championship campaign with a 1-0 success over Coventry last weekend, and Steven Schumacher’s men followed it up with another clean sheet in their win over Carlisle. Now they travel to Watford, who have also won two from two at the start of the 2024/25 campaign. 

Watford face Stoke at Vicarage Road on Saturday, with kick-off at 15:00. Below you can find my Watford vs Stoke prediction, featuring team news and betting tips. 

Team News

New signing Rocco Vata played well in midweek and could feature at some point while captain Daniel Bachmann is set to return to the XI after Jonathan Bond deputised last weekend. Mileta Rajović scored the winner from the bench and is pushing for a start, but Vakoun Issouf Bayo is likely to keep his place as the number nine. 

Sam Gallagher remains out for Stoke with a calf injury, and Michael Rose is also expected to be absent. It means Ben Gibson and Ben Wilmot should start in defence again, with Wilmot targeting his third consecutive clean sheet in a row. Summer arrival Viktor Johansson looks to be a fine signing, and will come back into the starting XI in goal. 

Watford vs Stoke Odds

Watford are priced at 7/4 to win this game, with Stoke available at 13/8. A draw can be backed at 11/5, over 2.5 goals is 1/1 and BTTS is 8/11.

Draw @ 11/5

I am finding it hard to separate these two teams at this point in the season. They’ve both had encouraging starts, and will hope for top-half finishes, but there is a long way to go in this campaign. Momentum will be key for Tom Cleverley, given a few predicted them to be battling relegation this season given the ownership, and weakened squad. 

Four points from the first two league games will mark a strong start, while the same could be said for Stoke, who have looked so solid so far. Schumacher may not set his team up so aggressively away from home, but instead favour a defence-first approach, while although Watford have scored eight goals in two matches so far, I believe they will find the Potters a far tougher nut to crack. 

Football Odds

Under 2.5 goals @ 8/11 

As I’ve just mentioned, Watford have scored plenty of goals so far, but Stoke’s defence is going to be so stubborn this season. In Johansson they have brought in a goalkeeper who is top class, but also instils confidence in his defence. Talking of that back four, Wilmot and Gibson are two tough centre-backs that are difficult to beat and although they lack pace, that hasn’t been an issue so far. 

Josh Laurent and Wouter Burger are two physical midfielders that shield that back line and I feel like Stoke may adopt the ‘draw away, win at home’ policy this season to carry themselves towards the play-offs. Three clean sheets in a row will be the first target for Schumacher as they travel to Vicarage Road, and it is why I would also have a small measure on a correct scoreline of 0-0 at big odds of 17/2.

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