Preston vs Stoke prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-10-14 14:00.
Ryan Lowe branded Preston’s performance as “flat” and “disappointing” as they lost 2-1 to Bristol City on Wednesday night, a result which meant they missed out on moving into the Championship play-off places. Robert Atkinson’s 90th minute goal consigned North End to their first away league defeat of the season – and means they have conceded as many goals (four) in the last week as they had in their opening dozen league fixtures.
Sections of the travelling support booed the Lilywhites off at Ashton Gate, and those fans will be hoping for a much better performance at Deepdale, where Preston have won just one of seven fixtures this season (D4, L2). That sole victory came against West Brom earlier this month, but Preston have still scored just two goals at home, the joint-second worst total in the EFL.
There will be a familiar face in the opposition dugout for the visit of Stoke City, whose boss Alex Neil spent four years in charge of Preston between 2017 and 2021. The Scot, who lost his only previous clash against North End six years ago, will be counting upon evergreen defender Phil Jagielka, who he hailed as “incredible” after he scored in last weekend’s 3-1 victory over high-flying Sheffield United, just the Potters’ second win in seven matches (D3, L2).
In-spite of that record, Stoke have been strong on the road this season, losing just one of their last five games (W2, D2) and keeping three clean sheets in the process. They will be cheered on by an army of nearly 3,000 away supporters, who will be hoping to see a rare victory at Deepdale, where they have only picked up two wins since 1999 (D2, L7)!
Key battle: North End captain Alan Browne, without a goal in 14 appearances this season, has netted twice in eight H2H meetings with the Potters (W4, D3, L1). He will be up against Jagielka, who picked up one of his four career straight red cards against Preston in 2004, but has lost just once in ten meetings (W5, D4).
Hot stat: Preston have not lost back-to-back games since April, the same month when Stoke last picked up two successive wins.