Norwich City host Watford at Carrow Road on 31 October 2026 in a Gameweek 13 fixture neither club can afford to lose. Norwich sit 20th with 12 points from 12 games while Watford are just below them in 21st on 11, so whoever leaves empty handed will be staring into the bottom three. Their first win in seven games, a 3-1 victory at Charlton Athletic on 24 October, gives them something to hold onto, whereas Watford's L-W-L-L-L run includes a 0-1 defeat at Wolverhampton on the same date and five straight away defeats. Philippe Clement and Alessio Dionisi have never met as managers before, so neither has any film on the other to lean on.
Norwich are without goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic, midfielder Mohamed Touré and forward Paris Maghoma through injury, forcing adjustments across the defensive line and midfield. Watford are similarly stretched, with Jeremy Ngakia, Edoardo Bove and Kwadwo Baah all ruled out injured, removing both first choice wide outlets and their most attacking right back option.
Clement has built Norwich to press high and move the ball quickly into the channels. Mathias Kvistgaarden leads the line as the squad's top scorer, supported by overlapping full backs and Andre Brooks, who has contributed goals and assists with particular consistency at Carrow Road. Jovon Makama is expected to start in Maghoma's place.
Dionisi's Watford have struggled badly away from home and the loss of Baah and Ngakia removes their natural wide outlets. Amin Nabizada is their top scorer and their clearest attacking outlet, while Vata and Maamma have combined for little away from home this season. Ngakia's absence is also felt at set pieces, where his departure leaves the right side of Watford's defensive shape noticeably thinner, making Norwich's set piece delivery worth watching.
The key battles are Brooks against Watford's central midfielders and Kvistgaarden against the Watford back four, with the visitors needing to manage Kvistgaarden's movement without Baah's defensive tracking behind him.
Watford have won the last two Championship meetings, including a 1-0 victory at Carrow Road in December 2025 and a 3-2 home win earlier in the season, though across the last ten encounters the record stands at five wins each, which is worth keeping in mind before reading too much into recent form.
Norwich 2-1 Watford. Kvistgaarden is likely to get on the scoresheet and Brooks is capable of creating or scoring from midfield and Nabizada's pace on the counter gives Watford their most realistic route back into the game.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
