There's battles all over the Championship, the automatic promotion spots, the playoffs and the relegation zone. It's the playoffs where this game focuses on, two teams in the mix taking each other on. Preston are the home side, in 8th and on the outside while Norwich are the visitors, in 6th and currently holding onto the final playoff spot.
Preston Form GuideNorwich have a five point lead in the playoff race, but many of those below and chasing have a game in hand, with Preston being one of those. Win here, and it's two points with a game in hand to go above. But should Preston lose here, you would think that would be them saying goodbye to any chance they have of getting in the playoffs.
They are here on the back of a big home win after they won 4-1 at home to relegation threatened Huddersfield in midweek. Three wins have come in their last five games, with victories over Rotherham and Plymouth, while they've lost once to Birmingham and picked up a draw against Watford.
Norwich Form GuideNorwich hold the upper hand in this playoff battle, but with the fact that some below them have a game in hand, there isn't really any room to make a mistake in their last four games of the season. This is a massive one, win here and they pretty much knock Preston out of contention, but lose, and Preston, plus maybe others, will pull themselves a lot closer.
They arrive on the back of a tough draw in midweek, 2-2 away at Sheffield Wednesday. But that game will have felt like a loss to Norwich, as they were winning 2-0 in that game, and allowed their opponents to fight back and rescue something. Before that, they had a big win last weekend, beating local rivals and promotion challengers Ipswich 1-0 in their derby clash.
Match PredictionA big three points at stake, both teams searching for the same playoff spot. I think the value here is for Preston to avoid defeat, so I will be backing them on the double chance market. They must throw everything at this game, lose and they're out, and I think they can take at least a point from it.
