Preston v West Brom Preview

Preston most recently went down to a surprise 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Reading in midweek, where it was very much a game of two halves when a spirited 2^nd half fight back wasn’t enough to undo a very poor 1^st period. This came just a matter of days after a fantastic win at Leicester which ended the Foxes unbeaten year long home league record. Preston boss Alan Irvine has been public in his criticism of the Lily Whites after the loss against a young Reading side who have struggled to find any form yet this season. The win gave Reading only their 2^nd win this season, both of which have come on their travels. Despite the loss, Preston still remain one place below West Brom in 3^rd spot but Irvine could make changes to the team that lost in midweek. Joe Parkin is in contention for a start after a good 2^nd half substitute show, Parkin scored Preston’s consolation penalty against the Royals and Liam Chilvers should have shaken off the effects of a dead leg picked up in the same match to figure in the starting line up.

West Brom have also suffered a recent downturn in form, after a walloping 5-0 away win at Middlesbrough, after which they were hailed by many as the best team in the Championship, the wheels have for the moment fallen off their promotion bandwagon after two shock back to back defeats. It started to go wrong with last Saturdays 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace and things got worse in midweek when being outplayed at Barnsley. The struggling Tykes, who were in the relegation zone prior to the match, made a complete mockery of their league position by comfortably beating the Baggies 3-1, and it’s left Roberto di Matteo questioning his team’s “bottle” after coming off second best to two physical teams. On the team news front, striker Luke Moore remains sidelined with a knee problem which also kept him out of the side that were defeated by Barnsley. Youssef Mulumbu should be fit despite taking an ankle knock in midweek and Marek Cech should return after a month out with a badly twisted ankle.

Here we have a fascinating 3^rd versus 2^nd encounter to kick off the live weekend action where both teams will be eager to get back to winning ways after recent poor results. The teams have endured the wrath of their respective bosses and we can expect a marked improvement from both sides after below par performances. Deepdale hasn’t been the best of hunting grounds for West Brom and they go into this having not beaten Preston in 10 games, with Albion’s last win coming back in 1959. I think this match is too tight to call and see both teams coming out of this with a point each.

Stakes 4/10 on the draw at 3.4 with Stan James. Click here to place your bet!