Preston entertain visitors Stoke to Deepdale in a Championship encounter where both teams go searching for their first league win of the season. A home victory a 6/4 looks great value for backers, when these two playoff outsiders meet in the league.
Preston upset many punters last week with their draw against promotion chasing Norwich. Only a late Norwich equaliser stopped them from securing an impressive priced away win at 11/4. Both clubs have begun the Championship season with one win and one defeat as they both look to kickstart their season with a win.
Preston supporters will look back at last season 9th place finish with pride, but slight disappointment as they finished 4 points outside of the play offs. At the start of November 2019, Preston were leading the division and retained the services of manager Alex Neil who turned down the opportunity to manage visitors Stoke City. Deepdale became a fortress for Preston last season as they picked up 12 home wins (4th highest in the league) and I expect that to continue this weekend when they play Stoke City. Deepdale has not been a happy hunting ground for Stoke since their first two visits when they lost 10-0 and 7-0 back in 1988 and 1989. In more recent times, Stoke have only picked up 1 win in their last 9 league attempts at Deepdale. Since both clubs return to championship level Preston have enjoyed positive results against Stoke and are unbeaten in four and doing the double over them last season.
Stoke managed to avoid relegation by securing 4 wins in their last 6 matches, including standout wins against Brentford and Nottingham Forest. Only their final day victory away at Nottingham Forest stopped them from finishing the season with the worst away record in the division. Stoke side are in transition with big wages players: Jack Butland, Tom Ince and Lee Gregory frozen out of the starting 11. Michael O Neil has big job to turn around a losing culture at Stoke and to have them fighting at the top of the division.
Preston to win 29/20 (Bet 365) 1 point win
Football Betting Advice 