Friday , 23 October 2026

Watford FC vs Preston North End FC, Championship 2026-27 REGULAR SEASON

Championship · 2026-27
Watford FC
2 – 1
Full Time
Preston North End FC
Tue 8 Sep 2026 · 18:45 UTC Vicarage Road HT 45' · FT 45'
0–1 5' Callum Lang
Edo Kayembe 69' 1–1
Mamadou Doumbia 76' 2–1
Y 62' Andrija Vukcevic
Y 67' Lewis Gibson

Overview

Match Preview

Watford FC vs Preston North End FC — Championship at Vicarage Road.

Match Details

  • Referee Farai Hallam (England)
  • Assistant 1
  • Assistant 2 Rob Smith
7 games this season 🟨 3.0/game ⚽ 10.3 goals/game

Standings

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

Head-to-Head

4
5
2
Watford FC 11 games · Avg 2.5 goals Preston North End FC
Last 5 meetings
2026-09-08 Watford FC 2–1 Preston North End FC 2026-02-14 Preston North End FC 2–2 Watford FC 2025-11-25 Watford FC 1–1 Preston North End FC 2025-01-21 Watford FC 1–2 Preston North End FC 2024-10-02 Preston North End FC 3–0 Watford FC

Recent Form

Watford FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
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
22 Aug Wrexham AFC A 1–1 D
16 Aug Southampton FC H 2–1 W
Preston North End FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
08 Sep Watford FC A 1–2 L
05 Sep Blackburn Rovers FC H 2–1 W
01 Sep Bristol City FC H 1–3 L
29 Aug Charlton Athletic FC A 0–1 L
22 Aug Wolverhampton Wanderers FC H 1–3 L
15 Aug Bolton Wanderers FC A 1–2 L

Season Stats

Watford FC Preston North End FC
#20 Position #24
11 Points 4
11 Played 11
3 / 2 / 6 W / D / L 1 / 1 / 9
10 Scored 9
19 Conceded 24
-9 GD -15
1.00 PPG 0.36
27% Win % 9%

Key Stats

55% Both Teams to Score
H2H (11 games)
55% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
9% Clean Sheets
Watford FC this season
0% Clean Sheets
Preston North End FC this season

Watford FC are 20th (11 pts). Preston North End FC are 24th (4 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

Watford FC
0-15
2/4
16-30
2/4
31-45
–/5
46-60
1/2
61-75
1/–
76+
4/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Preston North End FC
0-15
3/3
16-30
2/1
31-45
1/4
46-60
1/2
61-75
–/4
76+
2/8
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Watford FC
Amin Nabizada 3 G
Iker Bravo 1 G
Luca Kjerrumgaard 1 G
Preston North End FC
Callum Lang 3 G
Jordan Thompson 1 G
Jusef Erabi 1 G

Events

Match Events

  • 0' The referee blows the starting whistle. The fans are roaring. The teams are ready for the match. Watford FC is hosting Preston North End FC for another epic battle.
  • 5' Against the run of play, Callum Lang has scored! This game has turned on its head.
  • 10' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
  • 15' While players are taking a pause, let’s have a look at their stats. The teams met 1 times this season with Watford FC winning 100% of all matches.
  • 20' The home supporters are growing impatient. Watford FC must find a spark to ignite this game.
  • 25' It looks like no one’s ball. Watford FC is used to counterattacking playing. None of the sides are ready to take the lead.
  • 30' Daniel Iversen needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Red cards this season.
  • 35' Preston North End FC come into this ranked 23 in Array. They desperately need points to push themselves up the standings.
  • 40' Johnny Kenny has been one of the livelier players on the pitch with 2 goals to his name this season.
  • 45' Preston North End FC seems to be on a short break. The game is mainly concentrated in the center. It’s high time they got back to action. Otherwise, it looks like a goalless game.
  • 46' Fresh legs for Watford FC! Othmane Maamma comes on to replace Rocco Vata.
  • 51' The 23-year-old Odel Offiah has been sensational this season — 0 goals and 0 assists is a remarkable return.
  • 56' Watford FC looks like a favorite considering 1 games won in last 1 matches with its main striker Edo Kayembe scoring 1 goals.
  • 61' A change in the Watford FC ranks — Haktab Traore exits the field as Jordan Zemura enters on 61.
  • 62' The referee shows Preston North End FC player a card on 62.
  • 66' Delano Burgzorg has so much to prove this time. He replaces Johnny Kenny on 66 minute.
  • 67' Preston North End FC player sees a card in front of him.
  • 69' Clinical. Composed. Brilliant. Edo Kayembe makes it 1-1.
  • 74' A quiet spell here at Vicarage Road. Preston North End FC seem content sitting deep and soaking up pressure.
  • 75' The supporters are chanting for Jusef Erabi. He replaces Callum Lang on 75 minute.
  • 76' Goal! Mamadou Doumbia scores his 3 goal in 366 matches.
  • 81' Lewis Gibson, a England , has 0 bookings this season and will need to keep his discipline tonight.
  • 82' Preston North End FC ring the changes. Alfie Devine has done his job and it is now time for Thierry Small to step up.
  • 87' Haktab Traore is putting in a real shift tonight. He has covered more ground than anyone else for Watford FC so far.
  • 88' The supporters are chanting for Luca Kjerrumgaard. He replaces Mamadou Doumbia on 88 minute.
  • What a match! Full time at {STADIUM} — Watford FC 2-1 Preston North End FC.

Lineups

Watford FC Lineups

4-2-3-1

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Alessio Dionisi

Preston North End FC Lineups

5-3-2

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Paul Heckingbottom

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

PlayerGoals
Milutin Osmajic 4
Joao Pedro 2
Edo Kayembe 2
Vakoun Issouf Bayo 2
Troy Deeney 1
Callum Lang 1
Quina 1
Mamadou Doumbia 1

Head to Head

2026-09-08 Watford FC 2–1 Preston North End FC 2026-02-14 Preston North End FC 2–2 Watford FC 2025-11-25 Watford FC 1–1 Preston North End FC 2025-01-21 Watford FC 1–2 Preston North End FC 2024-10-02 Preston North End FC 3–0 Watford FC

Watford FC Form

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 2026-08-22 Wrexham AFC 1–1 Watford FC D 2026-08-16 Watford FC 2–1 Southampton FC W

Preston North End FC Form

2026-09-08 Watford FC 2–1 Preston North End FC L 2026-09-05 Preston North End FC 2–1 Blackburn Rovers FC W 2026-09-01 Preston North End FC 1–3 Bristol City FC L 2026-08-29 Charlton Athletic FC 1–0 Preston North End FC L 2026-08-22 Preston North End FC 1–3 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC L 2026-08-15 Bolton Wanderers FC 2–1 Preston North End FC L

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
2 / 4
1.58 Watford FC xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.1 Preston North End FC xG
I would bet for: Markets are evenly balanced — no clear value pick.

Match Result

✓ Correct
Watford FC49% Draw26% Preston North End FC25%
Actual: Watford FC win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes53% 0% No47%
Avg goals/match: 2.68
Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✗ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 91%
9%
± 1.5 75%
25%
± 2.5 50%
50%
± 3.5 28%
72%
± 4.5 14%
86%

Double Chance

Watford FC or Draw
76%
Draw or Preston North End FC
51%
Watford FC or Preston North End FC
74%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Watford FC33% Draw47% Preston North End FC20%
Actual: Preston North End FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
1 – 1
12.8%
1 – 0
9.9%
2 – 1
Actual
0 – 0
8.8%
2 – 0
8.3%
0 – 1
6.6%
1 – 2
6.3%
2 – 2
5%
3 – 1
4.8%
3 – 0
4.3%
0 – 2
4.1%
3 – 2
2.7%

Asian Handicap — Watford FC

Handicap Watford FC covers Push Preston North End FC covers
-2.5 10% — 90%
-2 10% 14% 75%
-1.5 25% — 75%
-1 25% 22% 53%
-0.5 47% — 53%
+0.5 75% — 25%
+1 75% 15% 10%
+1.5 90% — 10%
+2 90% 7% 3%
+2.5 97% — 3%

Clean Sheet

Watford FC keeps clean sheet
34% ✓
Preston North End FC keeps clean sheet
21% ✓

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