Watford will be hosting Stoke City at the Vicarage Road Stadium on Saturday evening in an attempt to win the match and stay in European positions. The Hornets are still ruing the opportunity that they had last weekend of beating Chelsea after taking the lead at the break only to lose 4-2 to the reigning champions when the full-time whistle was blown. A week before losing at Stamford Bridge, Watford stunned Arsenal with a 2-1 victory after trailing the Gunners at the break.
Stoke City is finding the season rough as Mark Hughes side has only registered a single victory in the last eight matches in all competitions.
The Potter's sole win in the previous seven Premier League matches was the 2-1 victory over Southampton at Bet 365 Stadium late in September. However, the Potters are now on the brink of dropping into relegation zone should they lose at Watford on Saturday.
Talking points
- The last four Premier League encounters between the two sides have each produced a winner with the Potters prevailing on three occasions while Hornets won the remaining fixture.
- In the previous four Premier League meetings featuring the two teams, an away team has emerged victors on four occasions. However, the last Premier League encounter saw Stoke City beat Watford 2-0 at Bet 365 Stadium.
- Stoke City has been pathetic on the road as the team has failed to win eleven of its last twelve Premier League fixtures.
- The last six games that Mark Hughes team has taken part in have seen each match realize a total of at least three goals.In fact, the Potters have conceded a massive 16 goals and scored just six goals in the last five Premier League matches.
- Mark Hughes' men have better head-to-head against Watford with the Potters winning all the three previous league meetings. In the three victories, Stoke City led Watford both at half-time and full-time.
- There have been at least three Premier League goals scored in Watford's last five matches. However, Watford's previous meetings with Stoke City have witnessed few goals with only one out of seven games in all competition realizing more than two goals.
Team news
The injury situation at Watford remains scary with Marco Silva side set to miss seven players as his side hosts Stoke City.
Younes Kaboul, Tommie Hoban, Isaac Success, Nathaniel Chalobah, Craig Cathcart, Sebastian Proedl and Roberto Pereyra are all set to miss the match due to injuries.
Stoke City isn't spared from injury cases with three players automatically missing the trip to Watford on Saturday due to incidences of injuries. The injured trio is; Bruno Martins, Stephen Ireland and Jakob Haugaard.
Xherdan Shaqiri, Peter Crouch, and Thomas Edwards all remaining doubtful for the Saturday's fixture. The unfit, Jullien Ngoy is unlikely to find a space in the Mark Hughes' team for the contest at Watford.
Full-time Prediction: Watford 1-3 Stoke City.
