Blackburn Rovers host Preston North End at Ewood Park in a Lancashire derby.
Victory would see Blackburn leapfrog their Lancashire rivals and climb to sixth in the table, whilst Preston can go fourth with a win.
Team News
Scott Wharton is available for Blackburn after the FA rescinded his red card during their win at Norwich upon appeal for wrongful dismissal.
Joe Rankin-Costello is ruled out with a hamstring injury which he suffered last weekend against the Canaries.
Aynsley Pears (foot), Dom Hyam (ankle), Sam Barnes (knee), Hayden Carter, Ryan Hedges (both hamstring) and Sam Gallagher (calf) remain sidelined.
Preston could welcome defender, Calvin Ramsay into contention for his first league appearance of this season.
Andrew Hughes (calf) could return but Ali McCann (calf), Jack Whatmough (hamstring) and Emil Riis Jakobsen (ACL) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Blackburn face Preston at Ewood Park in a 8pm GMT kick-off on Friday 10 November, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Blackburn have claimed seven points from their last five meetings against Preston (W2, D1, L2).
- Preston have avoided defeat in four of their last five visits to Blackburn (W3, D1, L1).
- B0th teams have scored in three of their last four meetings at Ewood Park, except for a 1-0 home win for Blackburn in December 2021.
- Three of Sammie Szmodics’ nine goals for Blackburn this season have been scored at home.
- Preston have conceded first in each of their last four away matches (D1, L3).
Prediction
After delivering a well-executed clinical display full of confidence and energy at Norwich, Blackburn should come into this derby looking to build upon that display but Rankin-Costello will be a loss given his midfield creativity but Rovers have enough quality to cope.
Preston meanwhile ended their rut with an efficient physical win against Coventry where they took their chances and dug deep to outplay them across the pitch, but they must ensure that it isn’t an one-off by getting another solid result here.
Both teams though won’t want to lose this local clash heading into the international break so I anticipate a tough encounter, where a draw might be a fair result but Blackburn might just have enough if play like they did last week to snatch this.
Prediction: Blackburn 1-1 Preston
Result: Blackburn 1-2 Preston
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