Preston v Derby Championship betting preview and tips
Despite sitting sixteenth in the Championship table, Preston North End are one of the form teams in the division after picking up wins away to QPR and Stoke.
Alex Neil has previously steered Norwich City to the Premier League and his team have bagged six goals in those away matches which suggests that they could yet make a concerted push for the play-offs.
PNE are slight favourites to beat Derby on Friday night although the Rams are ten points better off in sixth place and fresh from their FA Cup exertions which saw them overcome Accrington to reach round five.
Frank Lampard’s side have been a bit of a mixed bag on the road this season although six wins and four draws is a respectable enough return and the only teams to have beaten the Rams since the end of November have been Leeds and Sheffield United.
Derby will be missing the influential Mason Mount who picked up a hamstring injury in the FA Cup clash, although they have a solid central defensive partnership in Richard Keogh and Fikayo Tomori, while Tom Huddlestone is likely to return and add some steel to the midfield area.
Preston’s home form of 5-6-3 means that we can’t be too confident that they’ll beat a top six side at fairly short odds and we’ll instead back the game to finish all square.
It’s an outcome which would please County in their quest to remain in the play-off spots and the plain fact is that North End haven’t won any of their previous four matches at Deepdale.
Striker Sean Maguire hasn’t yet started firing for his team this season, while new signing Jayden Stockley will be looking for his first home goal since completing a move from Exeter City earlier in January.
BETTING TIP
Draw @ 3.40 with bet365

Team News
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01Declan Rudd
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16Andrew Hughes
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06Ben Davies
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14Jordan Storey
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02Darnell Fisher
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04Ben Pearson
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12Paul Gallagher
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24Sean Maguire
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08Alan Browne
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44Brad Potts
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20Jayden Stockley
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21Kelle Roos
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23Duane Holmes
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06Richard Keogh
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05Fikayo Tomori
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46Scott Malone
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04Craig Bryson
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17George Evans
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07Harry Wilson
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09Martyn Waghorn
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28David Nugent
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10Tom Lawrence
Derby
Championship
# | Team | G | W | D | L | +/- | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Norwich | 33 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 65:42 | 63 |
2 | Sheffield Unite | 33 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 58:34 | 61 |
3 | Leeds | 32 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 53:36 | 61 |
4 | West Bromwich A | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 64:40 | 57 |
5 | Middlesbrough | 32 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 36:24 | 54 |
6 | Bristol City | 31 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 40:30 | 53 |
7 | Derby | 31 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 43:36 | 51 |
8 | Nottingham Fore | 33 | 11 | 14 | 8 | 46:38 | 47 |
9 | Birmingham | 32 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 49:40 | 46 |
10 | Aston Villa | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 56:52 | 44 |
11 | Preston | 33 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 50:47 | 44 |
12 | Hull | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 45:42 | 44 |
13 | Swansea | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 42:39 | 44 |
14 | Blackburn | 33 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 43:50 | 43 |
15 | Sheffield Wedne | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 36:47 | 41 |
16 | Brentford | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 50:43 | 40 |
17 | Stoke | 33 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 34:41 | 40 |
18 | Queens Park Ran | 31 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 39:47 | 39 |
19 | Wigan | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 32:46 | 34 |
20 | Millwall | 31 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 34:45 | 31 |
21 | Reading | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 34:49 | 29 |
22 | Rotherham | 33 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 33:53 | 29 |
23 | Bolton | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 21:51 | 26 |
24 | Ipswich | 33 | 3 | 11 | 19 | 25:56 | 20 |