Championship: Watford vs Southampton – Betting preview

Ace Football previews the Championship round 1 match between Watford and Southampton and offers team stats, betting tips and the latest odds.

Championship title favourites Watford begin their title challenge this coming Sunday in an opening day encounter with Southampton at Vicarage Road Stadium.

Form: Watford vs Southampton

Watford Form

Watford suffered a couple of disappointments in their last three matches, as they were run over by Middlesbrough in a 5-1 defeat. Coventry also proved too hard to handle, as they won 0-4, before Watford were able to strike back last time out in a 1-0 win against Crawley. Watford only managed one meagre home win from a possible six at Vicarage Road Stadium in the Championship. They also drew two and lost three of these six encounters, in which they scored four and conceded ten goals.

Southampton Form

Southampton look well suited to take on any opponent as their last three matches ended with a draw and two wins. They started off drawing 2-2 with Ipswich, before downing first Preston by 1-3, then Colchester in a 0-2 win. Southampton have been outstanding on their travels lately, winning five of their previous six away matches in the Championship. They remained undefeated as they also drew once, while scoring 16 and conceding six goals.

Betting facts for Watford and Southampton

Let’s have a look at some of the most interesting betting-relevant facts based on the stats from the last couple of matches that Watford and Southampton played across all tournaments.

Players in form: Watford vs Southampton

It is the beginning of a new Championship campaign, and both Watford and Southampton will be looking for their main strikers this season. Accordingly, we have listed some of the in-form players who are expected to be getting it on for each team this season.

Popular markets: Watford vs Southampton

Full-time result

Watford claimed four wins, drew two and lost four of their previous 10 home matches across all tournaments. Southampton won eight, drew one and lost one of their last 10 games away. Watford lost their last 5 matches. Southampton struck a rich vein of form some weeks ago, as they are now without defeat in nothing less than 19 matches in a row. Southampton have hit a nice vein of form away from home with 9 matches now without losing. Watford have not lost to Southampton in 4 consecutive home meetings.

Both teams to score

Watford scored the first goal of the match in four games from a possible ten. Southampton scored the opening goal in five of a possible ten games. Both teams have scored in last 4 consecutive Southampton games. Southampton should feel cheery over the chances of getting at least one goal in on Sunday, as Watford only managed two clean sheets in the previous 10 matches. Southampton claimed three clean sheets in their last 10 games. Southampton have scored in 5 consecutive meetings with Watford when playing at away ground.

Total goals

Over 2.5 goals happened in six of Watford’s last ten matches across all tournaments. They pulled off an average of 0.8 goals during this run. Over 2.5 goals happened in eight of the last ten games for Southampton, who managed to hit the net 2.1 times on average in these games. Watford conceded a goal in their previous 7 matches. Southampton are on a nice streak of scoring at least once in their previous 20 matches.