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Matchday 8 · · Ashton Gate Stadium

Bristol City vs Watford: result, lineups and stats

Bristol City 14 · 15 points
1 - 0
Watford 21 · 11 points
  • 31' Dom Ballard

Lineups Bristol City vs Watford

Bristol City 4-2-3-1 · M. Skubala
1 Tickle
21 Cardines
5 Atkinson
38 Eile
19 Tanner
4 Randell
8 Williams
20 Greenwood
12 Knight
7 Hirakawa
23 Ballard
  • 63' Lorent Tolaj Dom Ballard
  • 63' Jed Wallace Yu Hirakawa
  • 70' Cameron Pring Sam Greenwood
  • 88' Lisav Naif Eissat Noah Eile
  • 88' Gibson Yah Adam Randell

Lineup for Bristol City: Tickle, Cardines, Atkinson, Eile, Tanner, Randell, Williams, Greenwood, Knight, Hirakawa, Ballard

Bench
  • 45 E. Adebayo
  • 40 B. Collins
  • 2 L. Eissat 88'
  • 14 T. Horvat
  • 3 C. Pring
  • 9 L. Tolaj
  • 10 S. Twine
  • 17 J. Wallace 63'
  • 27 G. Yah
Absentees Bristol City

Eile (injured), Adebayo, Tolaj, Dickie (doubtful)

Watford 3-4-1-2 · A. Dionisi
1 Ravaglia
29 Mlacic
6 Pollock
4 Keben
21 Nabizada
39 Kayembe
5 Kyprianou
11 Vata
17 Bravo
9 Kjerrumgaard
20 Doumbia
  • 62' Albert Eames Branimir Mlacic
  • 62' Othmane Maamma Rocco Vata
  • 62' Stephy Mavididi Amin Nabizada
  • 70' Myron Boadu Mamadou Doumbia

Lineup for Watford: Ravaglia, Mlacic, Pollock, Keben, Nabizada, Kayembe, Kyprianou, Vata, Bravo, Kjerrumgaard, Doumbia

Bench
  • 45 S. Mavididi 62'
  • 7 O. Maamma
  • 43 J. Grieves
  • 10 M. Boadu 70'
  • 24 S. Walker
  • 26 D. Bachmann
  • 19 N. Chikovani
  • 53 James Andrew Clarridge
  • 56 Albert Eames 62'
Absentees Watford

Bove, Ngakia, Baah, Coulibaly (injured), Antonio (unavailable)

Stats Bristol City vs Watford

Bristol City Match Watford
  • 36% Possession 64%
  • 17 Shots 10
  • 7 Shots on target 2
  • 5 Shots off target 3
  • 2 Corners 5
  • 11 Fouls 15
  • 3 Offsides 0
  • 2 Yellow cards 5
  • 0 Red cards 0

Pre-match preview

Bristol City

Rob Dickie is out of Watford's visit with a knee injury. The centre-back is seeing a specialist this week. He had started each of Bristol City's last five matches and scored once, so Noah Eile is expected to replace him in central defence.

Rio Cardines has featured at both full-back positions in Bristol City's last five matches, appearing on the right and the left while providing four assists. He and Cameron Pring are expected to fill the two full-back positions again this weekend, while Joe Williams is expected to return alongside Jason Knight after being rested for the defeat by Lincoln City.

Watford

Watford completed the free signing of Michail Antonio this month, though he is not yet ready to play. Edoardo Bove, who has started only two of the last five matches, remains sidelined with a knee injury.

Stephy Mavididi made his first start of this run against Stoke City and is expected to keep his place. Omar Traoré is expected to return to the starting eleven at right-back after coming off the bench in that game, while Amin Nabizada is not expected to start after he also featured from the bench. Jeremy Ngakia and Jack Grieves are among the doubts as both continue their comebacks from injury, having returned to group training earlier this month.

Players to watch

The five players from each team with the most combined goals and assists this season.

All stats

Bristol City

  1. Rio Cardines 0 goals 6 assists
  2. Dom Ballard 3 goals 0 assists
  3. Scott Twine 3 goals 0 assists
  4. Lorent Tolaj 2 goals 1 assists
  5. Jason Knight 1 goals 0 assists

Watford

  1. Amin Nabizada 3 goals 0 assists
  2. Iker Bravo 1 goals 2 assists
  3. Luca Kjerrumgaard 2 goals 0 assists
  4. Edo Kayembe 1 goals 1 assists
  5. Hector Kyprianou 1 goals 0 assists

Playing time and form

Who has played the most in recent weeks, and how have they performed?

Bristol City

Player Starts Min. Form
Jason Knight 5/5 420 mixed
Dom Ballard 5/5 419 solid
George Tanner 5/5 390 mixed
Rio Cardines 4/5 375 mixed
Sam Tickle 4/4 360 poor
Rob Atkinson 4/4 360 mixed
Cameron Pring 3/5 315 poor
Luke McNally 3/3 270 solid

Watford

Player Starts Min. Form
Federico Ravaglia 5/5 450 solid
Mattie Pollock 5/5 450 mixed
Hector Kyprianou 5/5 450 solid
Edo Kayembe 5/5 450 mixed
Kévin Keben 4/4 360 mixed
Iker Bravo 4/5 319 mixed
Luca Kjerrumgaard 4/4 284 solid
Branimir Mlacic 3/4 256 mixed

Pre-match prediction

Pre-match goals forecast
1.14 1.18
  • Predicted goals1.8
  • Both teams to score33%
  • Over 2.5 goals17%
  • Corners10.7

Team comparison

BRC home Per match WAT away
1.00 Points 0.17
0.50 Goals for 0.33
1.00 Goals against 1.83
1.37 xG for 1.06
1.25 xG against 1.83
6.2 Corners 3.0
WLWLL Home and away form LLLLL

Bristol City vs Watford: head-to-head record

25 previous meetings
7 Bristol City 9 draws 9 Watford
  • Goals per match2.96
  • Both teams scored56%
  • Over 2.5 goals48%
  • Feb 2026 Bristol City 1 - 2 Watford
  • Jan 2026 Bristol City 5 - 1 Watford
  • Nov 2025 Watford 1 - 1 Bristol City
  • Apr 2025 Bristol City 2 - 1 Watford
  • Nov 2024 Watford 1 - 0 Bristol City
  • Jan 2024 Bristol City 1 - 1 Watford
  • Dec 2023 Watford 1 - 4 Bristol City
  • Apr 2023 Watford 2 - 0 Bristol City
  • Nov 2022 Bristol City 0 - 0 Watford
  • Feb 2021 Watford 6 - 0 Bristol City

Frequently asked questions

Who is the referee for Bristol City vs Watford?

Oliver Langford refereed Bristol City vs Watford.

Who is unavailable for Bristol City against Watford?

Bristol City are without Elijah Adebayo (not registered), Lorent Tolaj (health problems), Rob Dickie (knee injury) and Noah Eile (illness).

Who is unavailable for Watford against Bristol City?

Watford are without Edoardo Bove (knee injury), Jeremy Ngakia (thigh injury), Kwadwo Baah (knock), Michail Antonio (not registered) and Soumaïla Coulibaly (hamstring injury).

What formation do Bristol City play?

Bristol City have used a 4-2-3-1 formation in their last 5 matches under Skubala.

What formation do Watford play?

Watford have used a 4-2-3-1 in 3 of their last 5 matches. In their last match, they played a 5-3-2.

How did the last meeting between Bristol City and Watford finish?

On 27 February 2026, Bristol City vs Watford finished 1-2.

Other matches from matchday 8 of the Championship

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