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Stoke City and Watford will trade tackles at the Bet 365 Stadium on Friday, with three points at stake in the EFL Championship.
With 25 matchdays gone, both sides harbor hopes of securing promotion. The hosts currently sit in eighth spot, just five points outside the playoff spots, while Watford are four places ahead in fourth.
Stoke City played out a six-goal thriller in their most recent fixture, drawing 3-3 away to Rotherham United. Meanwhile, a first-half penalty by Troy Deeney was enough to give Watford a 1-0 victory at home over Barnsley on Tuesday.
Stoke City vs Watford Head-to-Head
This will be the 38th meeting between the two sides and their head-to-head record is fairly even. The two teams have 15 wins apiece and seven draws.
Their most recent clash came in November on matchday 10 of the season, when a five-goal thriller was settled with a last-minute Ismaila Sarr goal. This gave Watford a 3-2 home win.
Stoke City form guide (all competitions): D-D-L-L-D
Watford form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-W
Stoke City vs Watford Team News
Stoke City
The Potters have four players sidelined by injury. Morgan Fox (hamstring), Tyrese Campbell (knee), Niki Maenpaa (hand), and Lee Gregory (groin) will all be unavailable for selection.
Defender James Chester will serve out the second game of his suspension for his red card against Blackburn.
Injuries: Niki Maenpaa, Lee Gregory, Tyrese Campbell, Morgan Fox
Suspension: James Chester
Watford
Watford have five players unavailable for selection due to injury. Stipe Perica (hamstring), Christian Kabasele (knee), Domingos Quina (hamstring), Tom Dele-Bashiru (ACL), and Isaac Success (Achilles tendon) are all ruled out.
There are no suspension concerns for the Hornets.
Injuries: Isaac Success, Domingos Quina, Tom Dele-Bashiru, Christian Kabasele, Stipe Perica
Suspension: None
Stoke City vs Watford Predicted XI
Stoke City Predicted XI (3-5-2): Josef Bursik (GK), Danny Batth, Harry Souttar, Nathan Collins; Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jordan Thompson, John Obi Mikel, Joe Allen, Rabbi Matondo; Nick Powell, Jacob Brown
Watford Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Ben Foster (GK); Kiko Femenia, Ben Wilmot, William Troost-Ekong, Jeremy Ngakia, Nathan Chalobah; Ken Sema, Tom Cleverley, James Garner, Andre Grey; Troy Deeney
Stoke City vs Watford Prediction
Stoke City's home form has been indifferent up to this point, while Watford have also been uncharacteristically poor on the road.
Neverthless, the hosts' poor run of form has seen them go seven games without a win in all competitions and this run could be set to continue against the Hornets.
Watford's surge to the upper echelons has been founded on a tight-knit defence and a clinical attack. We expect a low-scoring victory to be on the cards for Xisco Munoz' side.
Prediction: Stoke City 0-1 Watford
