Watford vs Preston: result 2-1 and analysis
ChampionshipRegular Season - 6Kick-off on September 8, 2026 at 06:45 PM (UTC)Vicarage Road, Watford
Full time
What was the result of Watford vs Preston?
Watford won 2-1 on September 8, 2026.
Goalscorers
- 5′C. LangPreston
- 69′E. KayembeWatford
- 76′M. DoumbiaWatford
What had the model predicted before the match?
Before kick-off, the Footlab AI model gave a Watford win at 47%: prediction correct. Most likely score announced: 1-1. Actual score: 2-1.
Computed by the Footlab AI model from our own data only, with no AI analysis.
Official lineup for Watford vs Preston
The starting elevens fielded at kick-off.
Watford
4-2-3-1- 20M. Doumbia
- 11R. Vata
- 22M. Payero
- 21Amin Nabizada
- 5H. Kyprianou
- 39E. Kayembe
- 23O. Traoré
- 3S. Coulibaly
- 6M. Pollock
- 4K. Keben
- 1F. Ravaglia
Preston
5-3-2- 38J. Kenny
- 10C. Lang
- 7A. Devine
- 15J. Thompson
- 27L. Leroy
- 3A. Vukčević
- 19L. Gibson
- 14J. Storey
- 24O. Offiah
- 4H. Clarke
- 1D. Iversen
What is the recent form of both teams?
Over their last 15 matches in all competitions, Watford have 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 defeats; Preston have 3, 1 and 11.
The competition is shown for every match: in pre-season, several of these games are friendlies.
| Date | Opponent | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2026 | West Brom(away) | 0-1 | Championship |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Swansea(away) | 0-2 | Championship |
| Aug 29, 2026 | West Ham(home) | 1-1 | Championship |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Peterborough(home) | 1-5 | League Cup |
| Aug 22, 2026 | Wrexham(away) | 1-1 | Championship |
| Date | Opponent | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2026 | Blackburn(home) | 2-1 | Championship |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Bristol City(home) | 1-3 | Championship |
| Aug 29, 2026 | Charlton(away) | 0-1 | Championship |
| Aug 26, 2026 | Everton(home) | 0-4 | League Cup |
| Aug 22, 2026 | Wolves(home) | 1-3 | Championship |
What does the head-to-head say?
Across the last 6 meetings: 1 Watford win, 3 draws, 2 Preston wins.
| Date | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 2026 | Preston 2-2 Watford | Championship |
| Nov 25, 2025 | Watford 1-1 Preston | Championship |
| Jan 21, 2025 | Watford 1-2 Preston | Championship |
| Oct 2, 2024 | Preston 3-0 Watford | Championship |
| Apr 6, 2024 | Watford 0-0 Preston | Championship |
| Dec 16, 2023 | Preston 1-5 Watford | Championship |
How many goals should we expect?
Watford score 0.9 and concede 2.0 goals per match over their last 15; Preston score 1.2 and concede 2.1.
| Club | Goals scored / match | Goals conceded / match | Clean sheets | Both teams scored | Over 2.5 goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watford | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2 | 7/15 | 8/15 |
| Preston | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0 | 10/15 | 11/15 |
Over the last 15 matches in all competitions.
Where do both teams sit in the table?
Watford sit 22nd in Championship (8 points from 10 matches) and Preston sit 24th (4 points from 10 matches).
| # | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Watford | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 8 |
| 24 | Preston | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 4 |
A question about Watford vs Preston?
Ask Footlab AI: lineups, absences, player form, stats, how the match could unfold.
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How does Footlab AI compute this prediction?
The model combines both teams' Elo ratings (anchored by competition pool), their recent form weighted by opponent strength, home advantage and a Poisson matrix for scorelines. When bookmakers publish odds for the match, their consensus is built into the calculation: that is what proved most accurate on past matches. Its accuracy is measured continuously on the predictions actually published. Methodology and measured accuracy