Watford vs Southampton prediction 16.08.2026 | Championship
Watford
Kick off:
Date:
Southampton
1
3.60
X
3.55
2
1.96
Contents
- Competition: Championship
- Date: Sunday, 16th August, 2026
- Kickoff: 13:30 UK / 14:30 CEST
- Venue: Vicarage Road (Watford)
The Championship is about to start this weekend. On Sunday, only two games are on the schedule. The first one will be between Watford and one of the main candidates for promotion, Southampton. Both teams started their seasons in the EFL Cup 1/64 finals, and both teams advanced. Watford won 1:0 against Crawley, while Southampton won 2:0 away from home against Colchester.
Let's break down the game and find the best possible bet for this Championship tie.
Watford vs Southampton Head to Head (H2H) stats
-
Southampton
1 : 0
Watford
Championship
-
Watford
2 : 2
Southampton
Championship
-
Southampton
3 : 2
Watford
Championship
-
Southampton
3 : 0
Watford
FA Cup
-
Watford
1 : 1
Southampton
FA Cup
-
Watford
1 : 1
Southampton
Championship
Last season, these teams met twice. Southampton won their home game 1:0, while the match in Watford ended in a 2:2 draw. Looking further back, over the past ten h2h games, Southampton won twice, while Watford secured just one win.
When it comes to the number of goals, five out of the h2h games ended with three or more goals, while both teams scored in six of them.
Watford team overview
Watford suffered relegation from the Premier League in the 2021/22 season and then had four finishes between 11th and 16th place. Last year, they could have had a solid season, but had an atrocious end to the season, which pushed them all the way to 16th place.
Over the Summer, the club was pretty active, adding several interesting players. Most of those players (five) came from Udinese, given that Watford and Udinese share the same owners and operate as "sister clubs".
However, despite their activity in the transfer window, the bookies do not trust them much and believe they will have a season similar to last year.
Last matches of Watford
-
Watford
1 : 0
Crawley Town
Carabao Cup
-
Watford
0 : 1
Fiorentina
Club Friendlies 3
-
Watford
3 : 0
Hansa Rostock
Club Friendlies 3
-
Watford
1 : 2
Boreham Wood
Club Friendlies 3
-
Watford
0 : 4
Coventry City
Championship
Watford lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Federico Ravaglia
Defenders
-
23
Omar Traoré
-
6
Mattie Pollock
-
4
Kévin Keben
-
16
Marc Bola
Midfielders
-
22
Martín Payero
-
10
Imrân Louza
-
5
Hector Kyprianou
Forwards
-
9
Luca Kjerrumgaard
-
42
Othmane Maamma
-
66
Nestory Irankunda
Southampton team overview
In the past four years, Southampton has constantly gone between the Premier League and the Championship. Last season, the popular Saints had a super interesting season. They reached the FA Cup semi-finals and missed out on direct promotion to the Premier League by four points. But then, the most interesting thing happened in the playoffs: they eliminated Middlesbrough in the semi-finals but were eliminated by the FA after spying on the other three teams' training sessions.
Over the Summer, the club underwent some changes as some important players like Shea Charles and Ross Stewart left. Meanwhile, the signing of Lewis Dobbin for 10.5 million euros from Aston Villa is undoubtedly the most interesting arrival.
As for the odds, the bookies see them as a playoff candidate, offering odds of around 2.0 to finish in the top six.
Last matches of Southampton
-
Colchester United
0 : 2
Southampton
Carabao Cup
-
Preußen Münster
1 : 2
Southampton
Club Friendlies 3
-
Eintracht Braunschweig
0 : 1
Southampton
Club Friendlies 3
-
Eastleigh
1 : 3
Southampton
Club Friendlies 3
-
Southampton
1 : 0
Middlesbrough
Championship
Southampton lineup
Goalkeeper
-
1
Daniel Peretz
Defenders
-
16
Yukinari Sugawara
-
6
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
-
15
Nathan Wood
-
3
Ryan Manning
Midfielders
-
4
Flynn Downes
-
8
Caspar Jander
-
7
Léo Scienza
-
10
Finn Azaz
Forwards
-
11
Lewis Dobbin
-
22
Ben Brereton Díaz
Prediction
In the first game of the season, Watford won 1:0. However, they created so many goal-scoring opportunities, finishing the game with 4.3 xG. A high xG isn't strange, considering they were the 7th-best team in that department last year with 1.49. Moreover, at home, they averaged 1.3 goals per game last season, and we believe they should score at least once against Southampton, which had some defensive problems last season.
Southampton were among the best teams in the league for this type of bet, especially on the road. There, an incredible 88% of their games (21 out of 24) finished with both teams scoring, which is by far the most in the league.
Moreover, the previous h2h game in Watford finished as a 2:2 draw. Considering all the above, the both teams to score bet should be the best option for this Championship tie.
3 Reasons why both teams should score
- Both teams scored in their EFL Cup games
- Watford averaged 1.3 goals scored per game last season at home
- Both teams scored in 88% of Southampton's league road games.
Main prediction Watford - Southampton
Both Teams to Score
Best Odds:
1xBet
1.63
Watford vs Southampton standings in Championship
| Regular Season | P | W | D | L |
G - A
|
GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 - 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 - 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Birmingham City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Sheffield United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Derby County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Watford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Swansea City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Norwich City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Queens Park Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Millwall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Southampton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Cardiff City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Preston North End | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Bristol City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Wrexham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | West Ham United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Lincoln City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Charlton Athletic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |