Monday , 2 November 2026

Bristol City FC vs Watford FC, Championship 2026-27 REGULAR SEASON

Championship · 2026-27
Bristol City FC
1 – 0
Full Time
Watford FC
Fri 18 Sep 2026 · 19:00 UTC Ashton Gate HT 45' · FT 45'
Dominic Ballard 31' 1–0
Y 21' Mamadou Doumbia
Y 25' Amin Nabizada
Y 54' Branimir Mlacic
Jason Knight 54' Y
Joe Williams 54' Y
Y 54' Edo Kayembe
Y 81' Matthew Pollock

Overview

Match Preview

Bristol City FC vs Watford FC — Championship at Ashton Gate.

Match Details

  • Referee Oliver Langford
  • Assistant 1 George Byrne
  • Assistant 2 Matthew Smith
5 games this season 🟨 2.8/game ⚽ 5.4 goals/game

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Middlesbrough FC 13 28
2 Swansea City AFC 13 26
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 13 24
4 West Bromwich Albion FC 13 24
5 Southampton FC 13 23
6 Birmingham City FC 13 23
7 Stoke City FC 13 23
8 West Ham United FC 13 22
9 Queens Park Rangers FC 13 20
10 Sheffield United FC 13 19
11 Portsmouth FC 13 19
12 Millwall FC 13 18
13 Portsmouth FC 12 18
14 Blackburn Rovers FC 13 18
15 Bristol City FC 13 18
16 Norwich City FC 13 15
17 Lincoln City FC 13 15
18 Cardiff City FC 13 14
19 Wrexham AFC 13 14
20 Bolton Wanderers FC 13 14
21 Charlton Athletic FC 13 14
22 Watford FC 13 11
23 Burnley FC 13 9
24 Derby County FC 13 7
25 Preston North End FC 13 5

Head-to-Head

4
4
4
Bristol City FC 12 games · Avg 2.6 goals Watford FC
Last 5 meetings
2026-09-18 Bristol City FC 1–0 Watford FC 2026-02-27 Bristol City FC 1–2 Watford FC 2026-01-10 Bristol City FC 5–1 Watford FC 2025-11-07 Watford FC 1–1 Bristol City FC 2025-04-05 Bristol City FC 2–1 Watford FC

Recent Form

Bristol City FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
18 Sep Watford FC H 1–0 W
15 Sep Lincoln City FC H 0–1 L
12 Sep Southampton FC A 1–4 L
05 Sep Burnley FC A 2–1 W
01 Sep Preston North End FC A 3–1 W
29 Aug Portsmouth FC H 2–1 W
Watford FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
18 Sep Bristol City FC A 0–1 L
12 Sep Stoke City FC H 1–2 L
08 Sep Preston North End FC H 2–1 W
05 Sep West Bromwich Albion FC A 0–1 L
01 Sep Swansea City AFC A 0–2 L
29 Aug West Ham United FC H 1–1 D

Season Stats

Bristol City FC Watford FC
#15 Position #22
18 Points 11
13 Played 13
5 / 3 / 5 W / D / L 3 / 2 / 8
15 Scored 12
17 Conceded 23
-2 GD -11
1.38 PPG 0.85
38% Win % 23%

Key Stats

50% Both Teams to Score
H2H (12 games)
42% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
15% Clean Sheets
Bristol City FC this season
8% Clean Sheets
Watford FC this season

Bristol City FC are 15th (18 pts). Watford FC are 22nd (11 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

Bristol City FC
0-15
2/2
16-30
1/1
31-45
3/3
46-60
1/5
61-75
1/1
76+
7/4
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Watford FC
0-15
3/4
16-30
3/4
31-45
–/6
46-60
1/3
61-75
1/2
76+
4/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Bristol City FC
Scott Twine 4 G
Dominic Ballard 4 G
Lorent Tolaj 2 G 1 A
Watford FC
Amin Nabizada 3 G
Iker Bravo 1 G
Luca Kjerrumgaard 1 G

Events

Match Events

  • 0' Here we go! The referee blows the whistle and Bristol City FC launch into their encounter with Watford FC.
  • 5' It looks like no one’s ball. Bristol City FC is used to counterattacking playing. None of the sides are ready to take the lead.
  • 10' The midfield battle is intense right now. Both Bristol City FC and Watford FC are fighting for every inch of the pitch.
  • 15' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
  • 20' Although teams showed high tempo form the start, they seem to slow down a bit. Both sides really need to catch a fire. Otherwise, we have another goalless match.
  • 21' Mamadou Doumbia picks up a card and will need to be extremely careful for the remainder of this match.
  • 25' Amin Nabizada is having his name booked by the referee on 25.
  • 30' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Luca Kjerrumgaard made 369 appearances and scored 2 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 31' Magnificent from Dominic Ballard! That is 11 goals in 359 appearances — and it could not have come at a better time.
  • 36' Matchday of the Array and both teams know exactly what is at stake tonight.
  • 41' Rocco Vata needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Yellow cards this season.
  • 46' Adam Randell has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 22 cards already picked up this season.
  • 51' Robert Atkinson is a natural and has been asked to do a very specific job for Bristol City FC tonight.
  • 54' Controversy at the stadium! Branimir Mlacic argues furiously but the card stands.
  • 59' Both teams are passing the ball around with high level of urgency. Watford FC needs to do something about it to get closer to the goal.
  • 62' Albert Eames is ready to make an impact after coming on for Branimir Mlacic at the 62 minute mark.
  • 63' Fresh legs for Bristol City FC! Lorent Tolaj comes on to replace Dominic Ballard.
  • 68' With 0 assists to his name this season, Joe Williams is clearly more than just a goal scorer for Bristol City FC.
  • 70' Myron Boadu gets the nod from Watford FC. He replaces Mamadou Doumbia and will look to change the dynamic.
  • 75' Neither side is committing men forward. This has all the hallmarks of a tense, tactical contest.
  • 80' The referee is likely to let players tackle, as he already missed some meaty challenges during opening seconds. He is still to establish what should not be done by the players and what is acceptable on the pitch. It’s going to be a tough game for Yu Hirakawa suffering a number of foals already.
  • 81' The referee shows Watford FC player a card on 81.
  • 86' The teams are not in a rush to score plenty of goals. It might look strange considering Bristol City FC that had 398 games and scored 446 goals.
  • 88' Another change for Bristol City FC made on 88 minute. Noah Eile leaves to be changed by Lisav Eissat.
  • Both sets of fans can go home satisfied — a 1-0 draw is a fair result on the day.

Lineups

Bristol City FC Lineups

4-2-3-1

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Michael Skubala

Watford FC Lineups

3-4-1-2

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Alessio Dionisi

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

PlayerGoals
Ismaila Sarr 2
Nahki Wells 1
Philip Zinckernagel 1
Ross McCrorie 1
Harry Cornick 1
Mamadou Doumbia 1
Joao Pedro 1
Dominic Ballard 1

Head to Head

2026-09-18 Bristol City FC 1–0 Watford FC 2026-02-27 Bristol City FC 1–2 Watford FC 2026-01-10 Bristol City FC 5–1 Watford FC 2025-11-07 Watford FC 1–1 Bristol City FC 2025-04-05 Bristol City FC 2–1 Watford FC

Bristol City FC Form

2026-09-18 Bristol City FC 1–0 Watford FC W 2026-09-15 Bristol City FC 0–1 Lincoln City FC L 2026-09-12 Southampton FC 4–1 Bristol City FC L 2026-09-05 Burnley FC 1–2 Bristol City FC W 2026-09-01 Preston North End FC 1–3 Bristol City FC W 2026-08-29 Bristol City FC 2–1 Portsmouth FC W

Watford FC Form

2026-09-18 Bristol City FC 1–0 Watford FC L 2026-09-12 Watford FC 1–2 Stoke City FC L 2026-09-08 Watford FC 2–1 Preston North End FC W 2026-09-05 West Bromwich Albion FC 1–0 Watford FC L 2026-09-01 Swansea City AFC 2–0 Watford FC L 2026-08-29 Watford FC 1–1 West Ham United FC D

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
3 / 4
1.54 Bristol City FC xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
0.69 Watford FC xG
I would bet for: Under 2.5 goals 62% + Under — clean sheet likely 60%

Match Result

✓ Correct
Bristol City FC58% Draw26% Watford FC16%
Actual: Bristol City FC win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes40% 0% No60%
Avg goals/match: 2.23
Actual: No — clean sheet

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 87%
13%
± 1.5 65%
35%
± 2.5 38%
62%
± 3.5 19%
81%
± 4.5 8%
92%

Double Chance

Bristol City FC or Draw
84%
Draw or Watford FC
42%
Bristol City FC or Watford FC
74%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Bristol City FC38% Draw50% Watford FC12%
Actual: Bristol City FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
1 – 0
Actual
0 – 0
12.9%
2 – 0
12.3%
1 – 1
12.2%
2 – 1
8.5%
0 – 1
6.3%
3 – 0
6.2%
3 – 1
4.5%
1 – 2
3.8%
2 – 2
3%
4 – 0
2.4%
0 – 2
2.4%

Asian Handicap — Bristol City FC

Handicap Bristol City FC covers Push Watford FC covers
-2.5 13% — 87%
-2 13% 18% 70%
-1.5 30% — 70%
-1 30% 26% 44%
-0.5 56% — 44%
+0.5 85% — 15%
+1 85% 11% 4%
+1.5 96% — 4%
+2 96% 3% 1%
+2.5 99% — 1%

Clean Sheet

Bristol City FC keeps clean sheet
51% ✓
Watford FC keeps clean sheet
22% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.