Championship · 2025bet365 Stadium

Stoke City 3–1 Watford · Championship

3–1Historical match

Watford

DWLWD

A completed match from a finished season. This page is the record of what happened.

Match at a glance

Stoke City won 3–1.

Shots
1915
Shots on target
124
Expected goals
1.531.83
Possession
44%56%

Full time

What the match recorded

Stoke City beat Watford 3–1. Recorded in this match (Stoke City – Watford): shots 19–15, shots on target 12–4, expected goals 1.53–1.83, possession 44%–56%. This is what was recorded. It is not a claim that the result was foreseeable.

Pre-match record

What the data showed before kick-off. Kept for reference; it did not know the result.

Stoke City's recent record differs from the season

moderate

Stoke City's last-five goals scored average is above their season average.

1.8 goals/match ▲Goals forLast 5 · Season1.18 goals/match
Evidence and caveat

Comparison: An unweighted last-five average is compared with the unweighted season average.

Window: last_5 versus season

MetricLast 5SeasonBaseline
Goals for1.8 goals/match1.18 goals/match1.29 goals/match

Caveat: Five matches are sensitive to opponent mix and isolated match states.

Recent scheduling adds useful context

weak

A compressed recent schedule is recorded for Stoke City, Watford.

3.79 days ▲Rest daysStoke City · Watford3.8 days
Evidence and caveat

Comparison: Rest days and completed matches in the prior 14 days are shown directly.

Window: previous 14 days

MetricStoke CityWatfordBaseline
Rest days3.79 days3.8 days—
Matches last 14 days3 matches1 match—

Caveat: The database does not describe travel, rotation decisions or player-level workload.

This match

Match statistics

  • Shots19 shots15 shotsStoke City 19 shots, Watford 15 shots
  • Shots on target12 shots4 shotsStoke City 12 shots, Watford 4 shots
  • Expected goals1.53 xG1.83 xGStoke City 1.53 xG, Watford 1.83 xG
  • Possession44%56%Stoke City 44%, Watford 56%
  • Corners6 corners7 cornersStoke City 6 corners, Watford 7 corners
  • Fouls11 fouls13 foulsStoke City 11 fouls, Watford 13 fouls

Every shot

Shot map

Every recorded shot, placed where it was taken and sized by its expected-goals value. Arrows show each team’s attacking direction.

Eric Bocat · Stoke City · 7′ · 0.01 xG · off target or blockedTomáš Rigo · Stoke City · 45′ · 0.01 xG · off target or blockedMarc Bola · Watford · 61′ · 0.01 xG · off target or blockedGiorgi Chakvetadze · Watford · 88′ · 0.01 xG · off target or blockedTomáš Rigo · Stoke City · 90′ · 0.01 xG · on targetTomáš Rigo · Stoke City · 34′ · 0.02 xG · on targetEdo Kayembe · Watford · 46′ · 0.02 xG · on targetMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 63′ · 0.02 xG · on targetSteven​ N'Zonzi · Stoke City · 66′ · 0.02 xG · off target or blockedNestory Irankunda · Watford · 81′ · 0.02 xG · goalJun-Ho Bae · Stoke City · 4′ · 0.03 xG · off target or blockedEdo Kayembe · Watford · 10′ · 0.03 xG · off target or blockedGiorgi Chakvetadze · Watford · 18′ · 0.04 xG · off target or blockedTomáš Rigo · Stoke City · 23′ · 0.04 xG · on targetMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 28′ · 0.04 xG · on targetImrân Louza · Watford · 53′ · 0.04 xG · off target or blockedMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 1′ · 0.05 xG · off target or blockedSteven​ N'Zonzi · Stoke City · 20′ · 0.05 xG · on targetAshley Phillips · Stoke City · 52′ · 0.06 xG · on targetEdo Kayembe · Watford · 88′ · 0.07 xG · on targetImrân Louza · Watford · 31′ · 0.08 xG · off target or blockedSam Gallagher · Stoke City · 85′ · 0.08 xG · goalMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 28′ · 0.09 xG · goalTom Ince · Watford · 10′ · 0.12 xG · off target or blockedStephen Mfuni · Watford · 58′ · 0.12 xG · off target or blockedSaba Goglichidze · Watford · 15′ · 0.13 xG · off target or blockedMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 77′ · 0.13 xG · goalMilan Smit · Stoke City · 59′ · 0.17 xG · off target or blockedSam Gallagher · Stoke City · 74′ · 0.17 xG · on targetMillion Manhoef · Stoke City · 77′ · 0.20 xG · on targetTom Ince · Watford · 15′ · 0.26 xG · on targetStephen Mfuni · Watford · 49′ · 0.26 xG · off target or blockedMaksym Talovierov · Stoke City · 45′ · 0.36 xG · off target or blockedImrân Louza · Watford · 21′ · 0.59 xG · off target or blocked
  • off target
  • on target
  • goal
  • penalty
  • size = xG

Stoke City: 19 shots, 12 on target, 1.56 xG. Watford: 15 shots, 4 on target, 1.80 xG.

How the match built

Expected-goals timeline

Expected goals accumulated minute by minute. Circles mark the goals that were actually scored.

0120′HT90′Million Manhoef · Stoke City · 28′Million Manhoef · Stoke City · 77′Sam Gallagher · Stoke City · 85′Nestory Irankunda · Watford · 81′

The step line is cumulative expected goals; circles mark goals. Final: Stoke City 1.56 xG · Watford 1.80 xG.

History

Head-to-head

Recent meetings between these teams.

Last 5 meetings

1Stoke City
2Draws
2Watford
Watford — Stoke City · Championship1–0
Stoke City — Watford · Championship0–0
Watford — Stoke City · Championship3–0
Watford — Stoke City · Championship1–1
Stoke City — Watford · Championship1–0

Head-to-Head & Recent Meetings

Metric comparison

Team comparison

Season averages, with the sample size beside each metric.

Where the edge is

Season: Stoke City favored in 2 of 11 directional metrics · Watford in 7 · 2 too close

led this metric higher value (descriptive) too close

Window

Season

Stoke City38 matchesWatford37 matches
1.18 goals/matchGoals scored38/37▲ 1.27 goals/match
1.05 goals/match ▲Goals allowed38/371.22 goals/match
1.07 xG/matchExpected goals38/37▲ 1.28 xG/match
11.3 shots/matchShots37/37▲ 14.1 shots/match
4.08 shots/matchShots on target37/37▲ 4.51 shots/match
52% ●Possession37/3751.4%
5.68 corners/match ●Corners37/374.78 corners/match
10.6 fouls/matchFouls36/3610.5 fouls/match

Evidence quality

How much supports this analysis

Grade A · Strong evidenceStrong evidence — limited
Season samples38 / 37home / away teams
Recent samples5 / 5last-five windows
FreshnessLess than one dayfrom nearest prior match
  • The fixture is outside the configured active season.
  • Recent samples and important metric coverage meet the strong evidence threshold.

Known unknowns

  • Lineups, injuries, suspensions and tactical changes are not available in the retained dataset.
  • Some metrics are unavailable or below their observation minimum: cards.
  • The fixture season differs from the competition's configured active season.
Analysis cutoff: Sat, 14 Mar 2026, 19:00 UTC · analysis-v4

Team rankings in Championship

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