Preston North End will host Blackburn Rovers at Deepdale on Friday in another round of the 2025-26 EFL Championship campaign. The home side appear to have regained their footing after a sluggish run of results in September and October and have climbed back into the promotion playoff spots.
They headed into the international break following a 1-1 draw away at Millwall, with Matt Smith opening the scoring for Preston in the 15th minute before the hosts equalized later in the half. They will now look to mark their return to action this weekend with a victory.
Blackburn Rovers, meanwhile, have endured a difficult campaign and have work to do if they are to challenge for the promotion playoffs. They suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Derby County last time out, finding themselves two goals down at the break before Yuki Ohashi pulled one back for the Rovers midway through the second half.
The visitors sit 19th in the league standings with 16 points from 14 games. They are six points above the drop zone and will be keen to widen that gap with a win on Friday.
Preston North End vs Blackburn Rovers Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Friday's game will mark the 116th meeting between Preston and Blackburn. The hosts have won 47 of their previous matchups, while the visitors have won 35 times, with their other 33 contests ending in a tie.
- The visitors picked up a 2-1 win in the last meeting between the two teams, ending a five-game winless run in this fixture.
- Blackburn are the joint-third lowest-scoring side in the English Championship this season with a goal tally of 14.
- Preston have picked up 17 points on home turf in the league this season, the joint-highest in the division so far.
Preston North End vs Blackburn Rovers Prediction
The Lilywhites have won three of their last four matches after winning just two of their previous nine. They have been solid at Deepdale all season and will be looking forward to Friday's game.
Rovers saw their latest result end a three-game winning run, and they will be keen to mark their return to action this weekend on a positive note. They are, however, slight underdogs heading into Friday's game and could lose this one.
Prediction: Preston North End 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Preston North End vs Blackburn Rovers Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Preston North End to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Five of the last seven matches between the two teams have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in six of their last seven matchups)