Predictions England Championship - Preston North End vs Norwich City

England Championship - Preston North End vs Norwich City
Match Time: 23-10-2024 01:45 Wednesday (GMT+7)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Preston began their season terribly, winning just once while losing four and drawing two of their first seven Championship matches.

Manager Ryan Lowe was sacked after just one game of his side's league campaign following a two-and-a-half year spell at the club, and was replaced by Paul Heckingbottom prior to the team's third league match against Luton Town.

Though Heckingbottom won his first game in charge, he failed to win any of the next four, with Preston scoring three times and conceding seven goals in those four matches.

The Lilywhites have since won two and drawn one of their Championship fixtures, including a dominant 1-0 success against Coventry City on Saturday when they created two xG, more than double that of their opponents.

Preston have won three and drawn one of their last four league matches at Deepdale, scoring five times and keeping four clean sheets in the process.

As for Norwich, they drew 1-1 with Stoke City on Saturday, a match in which they took the lead thanks to Ante Crnac in the 45th minute but conceded an equaliser in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time.

Boss Johannes Hoff Thorup said that while he was pleased with the Canaries' first 45 minutes, his team struggled to deal with the verticality of Stoke, who targeted the space behind Norwich's defence with runners.

Though the visitors were disappointed by the result against Stoke, they are unbeaten in their last five Championship games, winning three and drawing two in that period.

In fact, no other team in the second tier has collected more points than Norwich in the last five matches, with only first-placed Burnley and third-placed Leeds United matching their tally of 11 points.

Thorup's side are also the division's joint second-highest scorers having netted 17 times, and their record of 11 goals conceded makes them the joint eighth-best defensive team of the 24 clubs in the league.

Norwich's away record is mixed, as while they have won two of their last four fixtures on the road in the Championship, they have lost four, drawn one and won three of their eight most recent away games in the league.

Prediction: Preston North End 1-1 Norwich City