Stoke City will be looking to secure their fourth consecutive Premier League win when they host newly-promoted Watford at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. The visitors are without a victory in three matches. These two sides have last met in the Championship during the 2007-2008 campaign, recording goalless draws in both fixtures. Watford have beaten Stoke three times while the Potters have recorded just one win against the Hornets, back in 2004.
Stoke have recovered well after a shaky start to the season, recording four consecutive wins in all competitions. Their last success was at Swansea City on Monday night. It was the second consecutive away win without conceding, with young goalkeeper Jack Butland having an important contribution. Mame Biram Diouf will most likely be still unavailable for a while following the reported death of his mother. Ryan Shawcross will also miss out through injury, while Jonathan Walters and Shay given are doubtful.
Watford recorded impressive victories over Swansea and Newcastle United earlier in the season, but now they have failed to win any of their last three games, taking just one point from six. Last weekend they lost at home to Arsenal. Stoke have not scored against Watford in their last three matches at home, while the Hornets are undefeated in their last five league meetings with Stoke. Joel Ekstrand and Jurado remain unavailable through injury, but Valon Behrami could feature after being an unused substitute against Arsenal.
Probable line-ups:
Stoke City: Butland - Pieters, Wollscheid, Cameron, Johnson - Adam, Whelan, Arnautovic, Bojan, Shaqiri - Joselu
Watford: Gomes - Ake, Prodl, Cathcart, Nyom - Abdi, Behrami, Capoue, Anya - Deeney, Ighalo
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Stoke win - 2.10 Draw - 3.30 Watford win - 4.00
Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
To be honest,I did not expected this result.Stoke City is well known as a hard team to beat at their home pitch.They have one of the best crowds in Premier League and winning in front of them makes success of Watford even bigger.Troy Deeney scored first goal,but man of the mach was Ighalo,with 2 assists.
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nik92 8 years ago
Stoke City have won three games in a row. Watford play better at home than away. I would not bet on this game, because it is possible surprise. First of all I think that Watford can take points against Stoke CIty, one point or all three. Ideal opponent after defeat in last game at home.
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sharpe
8 years ago
Although Watford don't have an away victory so far in the season I think this game will be a tough one for Stoke City. In fact I believe Watford could win this one or at least they have to start playing better and take some points on the road if they wish to be out of the relegation zone in the end of the season. Possible...
Although Watford don't have an away victory so far in the season I think this game will be a tough one for Stoke City. In fact I believe Watford could win this one or at least they have to start playing better and take some points on the road if they wish to be out of the relegation zone in the end of the season. Possible surprise in this game.
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