Watford 2–1 Preston
Championship · Round Regular Season - 6 · 8 September 2026 at 18:45 UTC · Vicarage Road
Watford
2–1HT 0–1
Preston
Watford played Preston in the Championship on 8 September 2026 at Vicarage Road. The match finished 2–1.
Goals and cards
- 5'C. Lang
- 62'Andrija Vukčević — Yellow card
- 67'Lewis Gibson — Yellow card
- 69'E. Kayembe
- 76'M. Doumbia (assist by I. Bravo)
Line-ups
Watford 4-2-3-1
- F. Ravaglia
- K. Keben
- M. Pollock
- S. Coulibaly
- O. H. Traore
- E. Kayembe
- H. Kyprianou
- A. Nabizada
- M. Payero
- R. Vata
- M. Doumbia
- SUBSTITUTES
- S. Walker
- D. Bachmann
- J. Zemura
- A. Eames
- S. Mavididi
- L. Kjerrumgaard
- I. Bravo
- O. Maamma
Preston 5-3-2
- D. Iversen
- H. Clarke
- O. Offiah
- J. Storey
- L. Gibson
- A. Vukcevic
- L. Leroy
- J. Thompson
- A. Devine
- C. Lang
- J. Kenny
- SUBSTITUTES
- L. Nicholls
- C. Wiley
- L. Lindsay
- T. Small
- A. Moran
- L. Gibbs
- S. Mills
- D. Burgzorg
- J. Erabi
- COACHES: Paul Heckingbottom
Match statistics
| Watford | | Preston |
|---|
| 5 | Shots on goal | 6 |
| 7 | Shots off goal | 6 |
| 15 | Total shots | 18 |
| 3 | Blocked shots | 6 |
| 11 | Shots inside box | 10 |
| 4 | Shots outside box | 8 |
| 7 | Fouls | 10 |
| 2 | Corners | 4 |
| 2 | Offsides | 1 |
| 61% | Possession | 39% |
| 0 | Yellow cards | 2 |
| 5 | Saves | 3 |
| 526 | Total passes | 319 |
| 436 | Accurate passes | 243 |
| 83% | Pass accuracy | 76% |
| 1.26 | Expected Goals (xG) | 2.44 |
| -0.98 | goals_prevented | -0.98 |