Watford vs Ipswich prediction 24.02.2026 | Championship

The 2025/26 season is the best for Watford since relegation from the Premier League in 2022. The club from Vicarage Road is three points behind the playoff zone, and a potential victory would get Watford one step closer to the English top flight. However, Watford haven't played well lately, as their 2-0 home victory against Derby in the previous game came after eight matches in a row without a win. Edward Still's team finished with xG of 1.30, while the guests had only 0.54, so maybe that performance could provide a major boost in confidence.

After a win in the previous Championship round, Edward Still spoke about the reason for the first victory as Watford's manager. He said, "We've tried to bring as much fresh energy and as much clean energy as possible. We did a huge amount of defensive work this week and it's a good job we had four days on the training pitch to be able to prepare."

Watford have some problems with missing players. They will be without Rocco Vata and Hector Kyprianou on Tuesday night, while Othmane Maamma is questionable and his status will be clearer closer to the kickoff.

After a relegation from the Premier League, Ipswich were expected to be one of the prominent teams in the English second tier. They had a lot of problems throughout the season, but Ipswich climbed back and could even have some chances for the direct promotion spot. Still, momentum appears to have slipped again for Kieran McKenna's side, as they won only one of the last five matches across all competitions. In the most recent outing, Ipswich lost 5-3 on the road against Wrexham. In one of the most interesting matches of the season, the visitors had a 3-2 advantage, but the hosts' phenomenal last 25 minutes were enough to leave McKenna's team empty-handed.

Expectedly, Ipswich's boss, Kieran McKenna, was disappointed after the previous league round. He said, "We've come away from home and we've scored three really good goals, and it should be enough to win you the game, but we've conceded some really poor ones and some clinical finishing from Wrexham."

Jaden Philogene, Conor Townsend, and Ashley Young are injured and will not travel to Watford.