Sheffield Wed vs Preston prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-08-18 14:00.
Manager Xisco Muñoz is already considering ripping up Sheffield Wednesday’s gameplan, just two games into the Championship season. The Owls, who have conceded six goals in back-to-back defeats against Hull and Southampton, have been so poor that the boss is thinking of switching to a back five after admitting his side “don’t have a solid situation” defensively.
Reece James and Liam Palmer are among the players who could benefit from any change in formation, with the pair limited to substitute appearances in the Championship so far this term. Should they get the nod, they will be part of a Wednesday side scrambling to avoid losing their opening three league matches for the first time since 2007/08.
They might be confident of doing that against opponents Preston North End, who have lost on six of their last seven trips to Hillsborough (W1). The Lilywhites should arrive in South Yorkshire full of confidence though, given they have picked up four points from their two Championship outings so far this campaign, including a 2-1 win over Sunderland last weekend.
It’s therefore been a positive start to the campaign, especially when boss Ryan Lowe admits his squad is down to the “bare bones” due to a string of injuries, including to attackers Ched Evans and Emil Riis, who are yet to feature this season. However, Lowe will be hopeful Preston can continue their good form without them as they set their sights on a play-off finish in 2023/24, having finished half a dozen points short of the top six last time round.
Key battle: Wednesday will be hoping Josh Windass can net his first Championship goal of the season, given that he has won the last eight league games in which he has scored. Trying to stop him looks set to be Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, who is unbeaten in his previous four H2Hs (W2, D2), keeping one clean sheet, which came at Hillsborough in April 2021.
Hot stat: Preston have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last nine competitive games, with seven of those matches seeing both teams score.