Swansea vs Preston prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-04-18 18:45.
After a 1-0 victory against Huddersfield stretched Swansea’s unbeaten run to five league games (W4, D1), the season is nearing its end at a bad time for the Swans. Unfortunately for Russell Martin and his side, their purple patch just comes too late in the campaign to make a realistic play-off push, and with two key men in Ryan Manning and Joel Latibeaudiere looking likely to leave for free in the summer, Martin faces a big summer ready to push on again next season.
Finishing this campaign with momentum will be top of Martin’s agenda for the time being, and his side now have the chance to clock up back-to-back home league wins for the first time since October. Play-off chasing Preston stand in their way, but considering Swansea have lost just one of their last 20 H2H home league meetings (W14, D5), you’d be brave to bet against them at least keeping their unbeaten run going.
Preston hit the road for the second time in quick succession, travelling to South Wales after another gruelling trip at the weekend, this time to South London where they went down 2-0 against Millwall. Just a point shy of the play-off places, North End boss Ryan Lowe insists the primary aim for his side remains to “finish in the top-half” as he perhaps tries to take the pressure off his players.
Instead of deflecting pressure, Lowe may want to instead take a closer look at Preston’s indifferent away form, racking up just two wins from their last seven league trips (D2, L3). Both victories came against sides battling relegation, but with eight wins from their last 13 Wednesday-held league games (D3, L2), a midweek trip may be the perfect cure for their travel sickness.
Players to watch: Goalscoring Swansea full-back Ryan Manning has seen four of his five strikes this term arrive at home, including the winner against Huddersfield which was his third game-opening strike this season. In a rich vein of form, Preston’s Tom Cannon has opened the scoring in four of his last five goalscoring outings.
Hot stat: A league-low ten of Swansea’s league games have stood level at half-time (HT: W15, L17).