Blackburn Rovers welcome Preston North End to Ewood Park in a tasty Lancashire derby in Friday Night Football from Sky Bet Championship.
Victory would send Rovers seventh until Saturday teatime, whereas Preston could move level on points with Blackburn but go tenth for at least 19 hours with a win due to their inferior goal difference.
Team News
Barry Douglas is set to return for Blackburn after missing their defeat at QPR last weekend for personal reasons.
Lewis Holtby (knee) joins Bradley Johnson, Joe Rankin-Costello (both hamstring), Tom Trybull (back), Scott Wharton (Achilles) and Derrick Williams (quad) remain absent.
Preston could welcome captain, Alan Browne back into the team after he missed last weekend’s home defeat to Rotherham with a calf injury, although he will be handed a late fitness test.
Patrick Bauer (Achilles), Declan Rudd and Louis Moult (both knee) remain sidelined.
Stat Attack
- Blackburn have won just one of their last five meetings against Preston (W1, D1, L3).
- Preston are unbeaten in four of last five trips to Ewood Park (W2, D2, L1), despite keeping just a single clean sheet across those five visits.
- Rovers’ last six home goals have all come after half time, with the last first-half goal coming from Harvey Elliott in the opening goal of a 2-1 win over Millwall on 2 December 2020.
Prediction
Blackburn have a habit of getting themselves engaged in scrappy encounters with just one comfortable win since late November, so I am expecting them to find themselves in another difficult contest here because Preston won’t make life easy.
Alex Neil however will be keen for his Lilywhites to make a better start than they did against Rotherham on Saturday because their defending has been their biggest issue in recent weeks, which is a worry if they’re to push for the play-offs.
This is a local derby though where form can go out of the window but if Blackburn can be more sharper across the entire match and expose Preston’s defensive issues, this should be a comfortable home win.
Prediction: Blackburn 2-0 Preston
Result: Blackburn 1-2 Preston