Preview & Prediction: Preston North End FC vs Leicester City FC

The showdown between Preston North End FC and Leicester City FC in the game week 45 is destined to be tight, taking place at Deepdale. The pressure is high in this late-season face-off, with Leicester the clear favourite with the bookmakers, priced firmly at 1.61 for victory.

On April 29, 2024, these two teams will go toe-to-toe in the Championship. Their last face-off resulted in a 1 – 1 draw. Over the course of multiple seasons, the two teams have clashed seven times. Preston North End secured victory in two games, while Leicester City emerged victorious four times, and one game ended in stalemate.

Preston North End has displayed decent form at home, while Leicester City shines on the road. Previous encounters between these two teams have delivered an average of 2.29 goals per match, with both teams scoring in 57% of matches.

Within this season’s Championship, Preston North End has managed to secure an average of 1.68 points per home game. Leicester City, on the other hand, has a slightly superior performance on their travels, managing to gather an average of 1.91 points per away match.

Preston North End will need to bolster their attack if they wish to score during this match. Recently, they have struggled to find the back of the net, failing to score in the last three matches. They have averaged 0.8 points and scored only four times in their last five games.

In contrast, Leicester City is on a good run, gathering nine points and netting nine goals in their last five encounters across home and away games. Despite a couple of goalless performances in their last five matches, they’ve maintained an average of 1.8 points per game, winning three out of five games.

Insights

• Preston North End has been struggling recently, averaging just 0.8 points and managing to score only 4 times in their last 5 games.
• Failure to score has been a weakness for Preston North End in recent matches, with no goals scored in 4 of their last 5 games.
• High-scoring games are not common for Preston North End this season, with both teams scoring (BTTS) only in just 23 out of 44 games.
• Preston North End’s home performance has been decent this season, averaging 1.68 points per game.
• Comparatively, Leicester City has been performing better, picking up an average of 1.8 points and scoring 9 times in their last 5 matches.
• Leicester City has managed to keep the scoreline favorable in 24 of their 44 matches where BTTS has landed.
• Leicester City has been strong on the road this season, earning an average of 1.91 points in away matches.
• Looking at head-to-head record, Leicester City has the upper hand with 4 wins from their previous 7 encounters with Preston North End, who only managed to win 2.
• A high-scoring game may not be expected – previous meetings between Preston North End and Leicester City have averaged 2.29 goals, with BTTS happening 57% of the time.
• Oddsmakers are favoring a win for Leicester City, indicated by pricing at 1.61.

Match Forecast

• Preston North End FC will likely exploit their strength in aerial duels and long balls, resulting in lots of high and long crosses from both flanks.
• Leicester City FC will try to take advantage of Preston’s inability to defend against through balls by creating scoring chances through this method.
• The clash might be high scoring as both teams have strong ability to finish scoring chances.
• Preston North’s aggressiveness might lead to fouls in dangerous areas, offering Leicester City FC opportunities for dangerous set-pieces, despite Preston’s good defence against them.
• Leicester City FC’s weakness in aerial duels can be exploited by Preston’s strong aerial prowess, particularly during set pieces.
• The battle for ball possession will likely be controlled by Leicester City FC due to Preston North End’s weakness in keeping possession of the ball.
• The match could see Leicester City’s defense being penalized by their inability to stop opponents from creating chances due to Preston’s aggressive play style, leading to potential scoring opportunities for Preston.
• Leicester’s attack through the middle might be less effective as Preston tends to control the game in the opposition’s half.
• Both teams are strong in counter attacks and stealing the ball from the opposition, which could lead to a back-and-forth, fast-paced game.
• The individual errors by Leicester City could be capitalized upon by Preston North End’s strong scoring tactics.
• Leicester’s strategy to attack down the left may be met with strong resistance as Preston often defends and attacks down the right.

Match Facts

1. When Preston North End host Leicester City, the frequently seen game scoreline is 1-1, observed in 4 instances.
2. The general encounter between Preston North End and Leicester City often ends with a 1-1 result, a scenario that has occurred 5 times.
3. Over the past 10 home games against Leicester City, Preston North End has emerged victorious twice, with 5 games ending in a tie and 3 games won by Leicester City.
4. In 19 recent encounters, both Preston North End and Leicester City have recorded 6 victories each with 7 matches ended in a draw.
5. Preston North End’s last victory against Leicester City on home ground was in 2009.
6. Preston North End is currently on a losing trail of 3 successive Championship matches.
7. Leicester City, in the Championship, have suffered defeats in their last 3 away games.
8. Around 25% of goals scored by Preston North End are within the 31-45 minute mark.
9. Leicester City typically nets 27% of their goals in the 76-90 minute interval.
10. Preston North End have lost three consecutive matches.
11. Leicester City has recorded a chain of 4 successive losses on the road.
12. Leicester City is on a run of 5 away games without a win.
13. In this Championship season, Preston North End failed to score in 5 of their 22 home matches.
14. Leicester City have failed to find the net in 4 of their 22 away league games this season.
15. Will Keane tops the scoring chart for Preston North End with 13 goals, while Jamie Vardy has netted 16 for Leicester City.
16. Mads Frokjaer-Jensen of Preston North End leads in assists with 6, compared to Kiernan Dewsbury Hall of Leicester City with 14.
17. Ali McCann of Preston North End and Jannik Vestergaard of Leicester City are the most booked players with 10 and 13 yellow cards respectively.
18. Preston North End have failed to score in their last 3 matches.
19. Leicester City has given a goal away in every one of their last 8 matches.
20. In the first half, Preston North End wins 22% of their games, while Leicester City secures 48%.
21. Leicester City came out on top in their most recent meeting with Preston North End.
22. The latest game ended in Leicester City’s favor with a 3 goal margin.
23. If Preston North End is first to score at home, they generally win in 75% of those games.
24. When Leicester City scores first on the road, they typically win 77% of those matches.
25. If Preston North End concedes first at home, they only manage to come back and win 28% of the time.
26. Leicester City can only overturn a match in 11% of the instances they concede first on the road.
27. In the Championship, Leicester City outperforms Preston North End.
28. Leicester City has performed better than Preston North End in their last 5 encounters.
29. Preston North End has a stretch of 3 matches without scoring any goals.
30. Leicester City has not lost any of their last 5 games against Preston North End across all competitions.
31. In their past 5 matches, Preston North End did not record any victory, while Leicester City won 3 times with the matches ending in a stalemate twice.
32. Leicester City has only been defeated once in their last 5 Championship games against Preston North End.
33. Whereas, Preston North End has secured only one victory in their last 5 Championship matches against Leicester City.
34. On average, Preston North End notches 0.6 goals per match against Leicester City, who average 1.6 goals against Preston North End.
35. The mean tally of goals in a face-off between Preston North End and Leicester City stands at about 2.2.
36. A common encounter between Preston North End and Leicester City sees an average of 0.8 goals in the first half.
37. When at home, Preston North End scores about 1.59 goals on average, while Leicester City scores an average of 1.69 goals when playing away.