West Bromwich Albion welcome Preston North End to The Hawthorns in a rearranged Sky Bet Championship clash.
Victory would see West Brom climb above QPR into fourth, whereas Preston can move up to 13th with a win.
Team News
Daryl Dike is ruled out for West Brom after suffering a muscle injury in Saturday’s win over Peterborough.
Sam Johnstone and Alex Mowatt are in contention after completing three-match suspensions but Dara O’Shea (fitness), Semi Ajayi (international duty), Kean Bryan (knee) and Robert Snodgrass (back) remain ruled out.
Preston could hand new signing – Cameron Archer his first start after he joined on loan from Aston Villa on Monday (24 January).
Isiah Brown (Achilles) Josh Earl and Josh Murphy (both ankle) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- West Brom are unbeaten in their last seven meetings against Preston since suffering a 2-1 loss at Deepdale in January 2008 (W5, D2).
- Preston have failed to win any of their last 12 visits to The Hawthorns in all competitions since a 2-0 win in September 1973 (D1, L11).
- West Brom have kept just two clean sheets in their last five home matches against Preston, in which they scored 15 goals and conceded five goals.
- Callum Robinson has scored in three of West Brom’s last four home games in all competitions.
- Ched Evans has been yellow carded in two of Preston’s last three away league games.
Prediction
Having navigated their way through a lengthy inconsistent rut across the last three months, West Brom certainly can take heart from a dominant home display against Peterborough on Saturday, yet just lacked clinical finishing despite registering 27 shots.
Preston’s biggest weakness this season meanwhile has been their defence with no clean sheets since late October, although they had been in good form recently with eight points from their last five matches but were just outplayed at Swansea on Saturday.
A competitive scrap therefore is my gut feeling given the defensive inconsistencies within both teams, but West Brom will be buoyed by Saturday’s display and Preston’s awful away form at The Hawthorns, so I fancy a home win but Preston won’t make this an easy game.
Prediction: WBA 2-1 Preston
Result: WBA 0-2 Preston
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