It’s Matchday 3 on Saturday, 23rd August, with 12 games lined up. The 24 Championship clubs have played two matches each and will be looking to add more points to their tally and get a head start on the standings.
Currently, Stoke City leads the standings with six points in two matches. They won both games and scored six goals while conceding one, which put them on top of the table. Strikers Million Manhoef and Divin Mubama scored two goals each, while striker Sorba Thomas helped with one goal and three assists. Goalkeeper Johansson has also been instrumental to the Potters’ success. He kept two clean sheets in three matches this season – one in the Championship and one in the Carabao Cup.
On Saturday, they face Premier League dropouts Southampton. The Saints are currently 8th in the standings with one win, one draw, and four points. They scored three goals and conceded two, and have a goal difference of just one.
Last season was sobering for the Saints as they were relegated from the Premier League after spending just one year in the top flight. They were a consistent Premier League team from 2014/15 to 2022/23. The Saints faced their first relegation in 2023 but bounced back within a year. They couldn’t maintain their form and were relegated yet again.
However, bettors and fans shouldn’t write off the Saints. They were a solid Premier League team for several years and won the Championship playoffs in 2023/24.
Both teams have their strengths and will be looking for a win on Saturday, so fans can expect plenty of action. The match kicks off at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton at 15:00 BST.
Below, we give you the Southampton vs Stoke City preview, betting markets, and odds.
Championship Betting Odds: Southampton vs Stoke City
Stoke City had a dull season last year. The club dismissed manager Steven Schumacher after just five matches, then parted ways with his successor, Narcis Pelach, soon after. Mark Robins, the third head coach, was appointed on New Year’s Day. He took charge when the Potters were in serious danger of relegation. Robins eventually guided the club to safety as they finished 18th with 51 points – just two points above Luton Town, who were relegated.
This season, the club is focusing on strengthening the squad. New arrivals Divin Mubama (on loan from Manchester City) and Sorba Thomas (transferred from Huddersfield Town) already opened their score sheet in the opening-day match against Derby County. The most recent addition is French right winger Lamine Cisse, who joins from Bastia.
Meanwhile, Southampton has made only two signings in the summer transfer window – defender Joshua Qaurshie and striker Damion Downs. Saints striker Tyler Dibling drew considerable interest, including a £37 million bid from Everton. However, Southampton has rejected the bid and is holding firm to Dibling as of now.
Expectations are high for both teams with the new additions to the squad. While Stoke City will be riding high on its recent back-to-back wins, Southampton will be looking to improve its standing this season. So, bettors should closely watch the betting lines (markets) for the latest odds.
7bet offers competitive Southampton vs Stoke City betting odds.
1X2 Odds
| Southampton (1) | X | Stoke City (2) |
| 11/17 | 8/3 | 4/1 |
The 1X2 or the match winner market is the most popular choice among bettors. Here, you need to pick one out of three possible outcomes of Saturday’s match:
- 1: Home team (Southampton) wins
- X: Draw
- 2: Away team (Stoke City) wins
The odds for most bets are listed as either decimals or fractions. UK sportsbooks prefer fractional odds.
The denominator in the fraction indicates the bet amount, and the numerator is the amount you can expect to win if your chosen outcome wins. For example, Southampton’s odds for Saturday’s match are 11/17. This means that bettors can win £11 for every £17 for correctly predicting Southampton’s win. Upon winning, your stake, or the betting amount, is returned. So, your total payout becomes 11+17, i.e., £28.
Similarly, a successful bet on Stoke City yields £4 for every pound, and correctly predicting a draw pays £8 for every £3.
If the denominator is bigger than the numerator, it’s referred to as “short odds” because the bet pays less than a pound. Similarly, if the numerator value is bigger, it is called “long odds” because they pay out more.
You’ll notice that the odds (accurate to the publishing time of the article) are short for Southampton and long for Stoke. This reflects how bookmakers perceive both teams’ chances in the match. If a team has short odds, they may be expected to win the match. This means a lot of people would be betting on that team. In this scenario, bookmakers lower their odds to even out the market.
Similarly, if the odds are long, that outcome is considered less likely.
However, a team with long odds can still win the match. Don’t rely only on the odds for your analysis. Research both teams’ form, injuries, and lineup. The game could tilt in any direction on matchday.
Please note that the odds are accurate as per the publishing time of the article. Visit 7bet’s Championship betting page for the latest odds.
Double Chance
| Southampton or Draw | Southampton or Stoke | Draw or Stoke City |
| 3/17 | 4/15 | 1/1 |
There are only three possible outcomes in a football match: the home team wins, the away team wins, or the match draws. In 1×2, you can bet on only one outcome. However, Double Chance gives bettors the option to bet on these two outcomes out of three:
- Southampton or Draw: This bet loses if Stoke City wins.
- Southampton or Stoke City: You lose if the game ends in a draw.
- Draw or Stoke City: This bet loses if Southampton wins.
The probability of winning in Double Chance is 66% as bettors can cover two out of three outcomes. This is higher than the 33% win probability in the 1×2 market. However, this also means that the Double Chance market pays less. That’s because when the probability of an outcome is high, bookmakers give low odds.
Choose this market if you think both teams are evenly matched and predicting a winner is difficult. Check their win-loss-draw record in the last 10 matches to pick your bet. Stoke City has 4 wins, 3 losses, and 3 draws in their last 10 matches. Southampton has a nearly identical record of 3 wins, 3 losses, and 4 draws in the same period.
Draw No Bet
| Southampton | Stoke City |
| 4/15 | 5/2 |
The Draw No Bet (DNB) is yet another variant of the match winner market. The winning probability in this market is 50% since bettors only have to pick one of two outcomes. They need to bet on either team to win, whether it’s the home team or the away team. Draw is removed as a betting option. In case the match ends in a draw, bets are refunded.
Backing Southampton in the Draw No Bet market yields £4 for every £15, and backing Stoke City yields £5 for every £2. Upon simplifying, bettors can expect to receive £0.26 per pound if Southampton wins and £2.5 per pound if the Potters win.
Handicap Betting Odds
| Southampton (-0.75) | Stoke City (+0.75) |
| 20/23 | 20/21 |
| Southampton (-0.5) | Stoke City (+0.5) |
| 11/17 | 23/20 |
| Southampton (-1.5) | Stoke City (+1.5) |
| 37/20 | 5/13 |
Bookmakers add a handicap or a disadvantage when one team appears to be much stronger than the other. The handicap gives the weaker team a head start to even out the playing field.
The headstart or the advantage means a fixed number of points (chosen by the bettor) will be added to the weaker team’s final goal tally. A similar number of points is subtracted from the stronger team. Your bet wins or loses depending on what the final score looks like after adjusting the handicap.
For example, you chose to back Southampton with a -0.75 handicap. Southampton wins 1–0. After applying the handicap, the final score will be calculated as 0.25–0.75. This means your bet loses, even though Southampton won the match. So, be very careful when selecting the handicaps and keep the goal margins in mind.
For this fixture, all handicaps are negative for Southampton and positive for Stoke City. Here are two examples of the goal difference Southampton will need to overcome the handicap:
- Southampton (-0.75) / Stoke City (+0.75): Stoke City has a small advantage here as Southampton needs to win the match with a 2-goal difference to overcome the handicap. A draw (1–1) will give a win to Stoke City after adding the handicap (0.25–1.75). A 1-goal margin win for Southampton still gives a win to Stoke City because the score of 1–0 gets adjusted as 0.25–0.75. However, a 2-goal difference like 2–0 or 3–1 will allow Southampton to overcome the handicap.
- Southampton (-1.5) / Stoke City (+1.5): Stoke City gets a big advantage here as Southampton needs to win with a 4-goal difference. A 2-goal win margin like 2–0 gives a win to the Potters (0.5–1.5). A 3-goal win margin, like 3–0, leads to a draw (1.5–1.5). A 4-goal win margin will give a win to bets on Southampton (2.5–1.5).
Both Teams to Score (BTTS Odds)
| Yes | No |
| 1/1 | 3/4 |
The Both Teams to Score (BTTS) market is relatively safer to bet on because it considers only a specific aspect of the game. Here, bettors have to predict whether both teams will net the ball at least once. The final winner or the final score doesn’t matter in this bet.
“Yes” bets win as long as both Potters and Saints find the back of the net at least once. “No” bets win if either or both teams fail to score. For example, the final score is 1–1. “Yes” bets win on this score. “No” bets win if the final score looks like 0–0, 0–1, 2–0, etc.
To decide whether to pick Yes or No, look at both teams’ clean sheet records. A clean sheet means the team’s goalkeeper didn’t allow even a single goal to slide in. The opposition team’s score is zero in a clean sheet. Even if the match ends in a 0–0 draw, it is considered a clean sheet for both teams.
In their last 10 fixtures, Stoke City has kept four clean sheets and Southampton has kept two.
Goal Total (Over/Under) Odds
| Over 2.5 | Under 2.5 |
| 21/20 | 20/27 |
This market is also known as Over/Under or O/U. In this market, bettors need to predict whether the goal total will be over or under their chosen number. For example, the match ends 3–1. The final goal total is four.
On 7bet, bettors can adjust the betting line from 1.5 to 4.5. So, for the above score, bets on over 2.5 or 3.5 win, and under 4.5 also win.
To pick whether to bet over or under, see both teams’ average score in the last 10 matches.
In their last 10 matches, Stoke City has averaged 1.1 goals per match. Its highest goal tally during this period was three (against Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday).
Southampton also averaged 1.1 goals in the same time. Its highest tally was two goals, scored against Brighton in a Club Friendlies match. If you go back even further and look at the last 20 results, Southampton’s goal tally has been either zero or one (except for the Friendlies match, where they scored two goals). Meanwhile, Stoke City’s score range has been between zero and two in the same period (except for the last two matches, where they scored three goals each).
Use this data to decide whether to pick an over or an under total. For example, if you think we’ll not see a high-scoring match, select Under 3.5 goals. This bet wins if the final score looks something like 2–1, 1–1, 1–0, or lower.
Correct Score Odds
| 1/0 (Southampton Wins) | 1/1 (Draw) | 0/1 (Stoke City Wins) |
| 5/1 | 6/1 | 11/1 |
In this market, bettors have to predict who will win the match and what the exact score will be. Note that this is a risky bet as predicting the exact score is a game of chance. Bettors can adjust the betting line to choose any score between 0 to +5 goals for either or both teams.
Predicting a 1/0 win for Southampton pays 5/1, and betting a 0/1 win for Stoke City pays 11/1. This is a high-paying market because of the risk involved. Attempt betting on the correct score only if you follow both teams closely. See if any strikers are injured on matchday because that can affect the final score.
Where to Watch the Championship in the UK
UK residents can catch the live action for free on Sky Sports TV. Sky Sports+ will also broadcast the fixtures on its streaming service, which is available for subscription through a NOW TV pass. Sky Sports will stream 1,059 of the EFL’s 1,891 games across the Sky Bet EFL, EFL Cup, and EFL Trophy.
Betting is only available to participants above 18 years. Please bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]