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Football

Match Preview: Watford FC vs Preston North End FC

After losing 3-0 to Burnley in February, Ryan Lowe’s Preston North End have won four consecutive matches, most recently defeating Wigan Athletic 2-1 on Saturday (February 25).

When they last faced the Hornets in August, in a scoreless draw, Lowe will be looking for a repeat of his team’s solid defensive performance.

This week, Jeremy Ngakia and Joo Ferreira returned to full fitness and participated in training, bolstering Slaven Bili’s right-back options. The Hornets’ head coach will make a late decision over their participation versus Preston.

Ben Whiteman and Robbie Brady will be available for Preston after serving their individual bans, and Greg Cunningham has returned to training after recovering from the injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Coventry City (February 28).

Key insights:

1. Watford and Preston North End have met 10 times in the last several seasons and Watford have won 4 matches while Preston North End won 3 matches and 3 have ended in a draw.
2. Watford is in good home form while Preston North End are performing excellent at away.
3. On average, Watford has picked up 1.2 points per game in the last 5 games and Preston North End has picked up 1.2 points per game in their last 5 games.
4. Watford has enjoyed playing at home recently, with the side currently unbeaten in 4 games while Preston North End have lost just 1 game in their last 5 games.
5. Out of the last 5 matches between Watford and Preston North End, 4 of those games have ended with both teams scoring while only 2 of the last 5 games for Preston North End has ended with both teams scoring.
6. Watford has scored 7 times in the last 5 fixtures and Preston North End has scored 3 times in the last 5 fixtures.
7. So far this season in the Championship, Watford have averaged 1.75 Points Per Game at home matches and Preston North End 1.75 Points Per Game at away matches.

Slaven Bilić, Watford Head Coach:

“We know we have to kick on, and that now is the time for the results. You can’t calculate how everything is going to go, but make no mistake, we’ll be going for 36 points from these next 12 games. We know where we are, but we are optimistic because this is the point of the season we looked at as being really important, and we knew we had to get to it without dropping too far away in the table.

“We still have a few players out injured, but I’d say now we’ve got 90 per cent of the players we’d use in these last 12 games, and they’re all getting stronger as we go on. We’re not happy with how some of the previous games have gone but we’re still in the running, and we believe that we have the tools to pick up good results, starting tomorrow against Preston.”

Ryan Lowe, Preston North End Manager:

“They’ve [Watford] just come down from the Premier League, they’ve got some fantastic quality and they’ve got a manager who knows what to do and how to do it and has been there before.

“He’s got teams out the division and has managed in the Premier League so we’re under no illusions it’s going to be a tough task, but I think our positive mindset of late and performances of late have been fantastic, and we want to continue that.”

Statistics

1. Watford have won 4 out of 10 previous meetings against Preston North End, while Preston North End have won 3.
2. Watford is currently unbeaten in 4 home games.
3. Watford has scored 7 times in the last 5 fixtures.
4. Preston North End has scored 3 times in the last 5 fixtures.
5. Watford have an average of 1.2 points per game in their last 5 home and away games.
6. Preston North End have an average of 1.2 points per game in their last 5 home and away games.
7. Watford have scored in 4 of their last 5 home games.
8. Preston North End have failed to score in 3 of their last 5 away games.
9. BTTS has landed in 50% of the previous meetings between Watford and Preston North End.
10. BTTS has landed in 4 of Watford’s last 5 games and just 2 of Preston North End’s last 5 games.

This could be an exciting match with both teams looking to get the victory. Watford will be supported on their home turf and looking to take advantage of their recent form, while Preston North End will be looking to continue their good away record. With the previous matches between these two teams averaging 2.4 goals scored, there is potential for an entertaining game.

Watford FC is in good home form, while Preston North End has been performing excellently on the road. Based on the data, this is sure to be an interesting match, with the average of 2.4 goals per game in the last 10 encounters between these two teams. Furthermore, half of those have resulted in BTTS, so this one could be open and full of goals.

It looks like a close match is on the cards as Watford and Preston North End go head to head in the Championship on 4thMarch 2023. There have been ten previous meetings between the sides and Watford have won four of them, while Preston North End have won three. This season both teams have averaged 1.75 points per game and with BTTS happening in 50% of their previous meetings, it looks like a close and exciting game is in store.

Kajal S

Kajal S

kajal

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