Charlton Athletic play their first Championship game in five years against Paulo Pezzolano’s new Watford side at The Valley.
EFL Championship
Our Three Predictions For Charlton Athletic vs Watford:
- First Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Match Result – Charlton Athletic – 7/5
- Second Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Over 2.5 Goals – 1/1
- Third Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Both Teams To Score – Yes – 3/4
First Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Match Result – Charlton Athletic – 7/5
As always seems to be the case, a lot of uncertainty surrounds Watford at the beginning of the season. Paulo Pezzolano is a name most in England aren’t familiar with, though the Uruguayan does have five previous jobs behind him, including with Real Valladolid. Charlton, meanwhile, are riding the wave of promotion and will be confident of remaining in the second tier with ease, unlike their last campaign at this level. Their business has been quality on paper, though it may take time for the new signings to slot in. The Hornets only won four times on the road last term, losing their final five away games in a row. On the contrary, Charlton won fifteen of their 23 home encounters in the third tier, losing only twice. Any chance of Watford starting the campaign with a rare victory away from Hertfordshire appears unlikely against a strong home side.
Second Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Over 2.5 Goals – 1/1
With the attacking additions of Tanto Olaofe, Harvey Knibbs and Charlie Kelman, Charlton have added plenty of firepower in forward positions. Kelman was signed for a multi-million pound fee from Queens Park Rangers, fresh from netting 21 regular-season goals for Leyton Orient last term. He also added two against Stockport County in the Play-Offs, with new teammate Olaofe also netting in that dramatic tie. Watford have strengthened their attack, with two arrivals on the right wing and a further two additions up top, both from Italian outfit Udinese. With plenty of attacking spark set to be on display on Saturday lunchtime, expect a free-scoring encounter to kick off the campaign.
Third Prediction For Charlton Athletic vs Watford: Both Teams To Score – Yes – 3/4
With the attacking enforcements listed above, it’s only fair to look at the other end to see if either side can stop the other from scoring. While a defensive midfielder, Hector Kyprianou is an astute pick-up for Watford from League One Peterborough United, with their only other addition from an English outfit being goalkeeper Nathan Baxter (Bolton Wanderers). Marc Bola also aims to strengthen the fifth-worst away defence last term, joining from Turkey. Charlton’s star defender Thierry Small has departed for a Championship rival, though Nathan Jones has raided his former employers, Luton Town, for three of their backline. With that in mind, two new-look defences present little opportunity for clean sheets at either end this weekend.
Best Odds For Charlton Athletic vs Watford
| Bookmaker | Charlton Athletic | Draw | Watford |
| MyriadPlay | 7/5 | 21/10 | 9/5 |
| Gentleman Jim | 7/5 | 21/10 | 9/5 |
| Betarno | 7/5 | 85/40 | 9/5 |
The table above shows the latest odds from leading football betting websites.
Full Preview Of The Game: Last Results And Head-To-Head:
As mentioned above, Charlton Athletic make their return to the Championship after five long years away. The Addicks were relegated from the second tier after previously winning the Play-Offs in 2019, suffering the heartbreak of relegation in as dramatic fashion. Despite being well-beaten at Leeds United, Lee Bowyer’s side were still safe until Barnsley scored an injury-time winner at Brentford to stay up at their expense. Four years of rebuilding and finishing between seventh and sixteenth finally paved the way for a top-six finish last term. A rampant April period brought four victories from five before a tantalising trip to Wrexham, including thrashing promotion rivals Wycombe Wanderers four-nil at Adams Park. That gave Nathan Jones’ outfit an outside chance of automatic promotion heading to North Wales, but they were blown away by Phil Parkinson’s side, who secured a historic third successive promotion.
Into the Play-Offs Charlton went, but their meetings with the Chairboys were a lot closer this time. After a stalemate in Buckinghamshire, the second leg appeared to be going in the same direction until Matty Godden struck with nine minutes remaining to send the Addicks back to Wembley. Six years on from their triumph over Sunderland, Charlton beat East London rivals Leyton Orient through a Macaulay Gillesphey free-kick. In preparation for their Championship return, they have splashed the cash. In come Charlie Kelman, winner of last season’s golden boot in League One, joined by third-tier players Rob Apter & Sonny Carey (Blackpool), Harvey Knibbs (Reading) and Tanto Olaofe (Stockport County). Thomas Kaminski, Amari’i Bell & Reece Burke bolster their backline, arriving from Luton Town, with Jon Rankin-Costello completing a new-look backline from Blackburn Rovers. Thierry Small was poached by Preston North End in Charlton’s only major loss since promotion.
The Gino Pozzo era at Watford had its latest victim this year, as popular manager Tom Cleverley failed in the Hornets’ pursuit of a Premier League return. Three years have now passed since they were a top-flight side, failing to even have a sniff of a Play-Off place since relegation. Five managers have tried and failed in their attempts to win promotion, with Valérien Ismaël lasting the longest at just under 50 matches. As has already been highlighted above, the Hornets had a dire end to the campaign, with one win in their final nine encounters. Although, by that point in the campaign, Watford’s season was all but over, so that form was hardly a huge surprise with teams still vying for positions at either end of the table.
Paulo Pezzolano has the unenviable job this season, with plenty of movement over the summer. Nineteen-year-old wingers Nestory Irankunda and Othmane Maamma have completed seven-figure transfers from the German and French second tiers. Udinese pair Vivaldo Semedo and Luca Kjerrumgaard bolster the Hornets attacking options, replacing outbound striker Mileta Rajović. Centre-halves Francisco Sierralta and Antonio Tikvic have also moved abroad for fairly sizeable fees, potentially meaning that more transfers may still occur for the new manager in his first summer in charge.
Confrontation09/08/2025 Championship Championship 
Charlton 
Watford 1 0 Last Results - Charlton
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Where To Watch Charlton Athletic vs Watford:
Where can I watch the game, either on TV or in person?
- Location: The Valley, Charlton
- Date: Saturday 9th August, 2025
- TV Channel: Sky Sports+
Probable Lineups For Charlton Athletic vs Watford:
Predicted Charlton Athletic Lineup:
- Lineup: Kaminski; Ramsay, Jones, Bell, Apter, Coventry, Carey, Docherty, Edwards, Kelman, Campbell
- Suspended/Injured:
- Coach: Nathan Jones
Predicted Watford Lineup:
- Lineup: Selvik, Andrews, Pollock, Abankwah, Bola, Louza, Kyprianou, Baah, Grieves, Vata, Kjerrumgaard
- Suspended/Injured:
- Coach: Paulo Pezzolano
