Overview
- The match is scheduled for Sunday 16 August 2026 with a 1:30pm BST kick-off at Vicarage Road and will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football with streaming via Sky Go and NOW.
- Southampton will start the 2026/27 campaign on minus four points after admitting to spying on other clubs and being expelled from last season’s play-offs.
- Manager Tonda Eckert has reinforced his squad by making Cyle Larin and goalkeeper Daniel Peretz permanent signings and adding loan arrivals such as Divin Mubama and Lewis Dobbin, with Larin listed among the main scoring threats.
- Watford begin the season under new head coach Alessio Dionisi and enter the match on the back of a 1-0 EFL Cup win that was decided by Marc Bola’s stoppage-time goal.
- Bookmakers make Southampton the slight favourites in pre-match markets and previews predict an open game with goals, which matters because the early points race is tighter this season with changes to the promotion and play-off landscape.