Preston v West Brom: free football tip, Championship preview & team news

Free football tip, team news and preview for Preston North End v West Brom in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football & Main Event, 7.45pm Monday

Best bet

West Brom
2pts 13-10 Betfred

Team news

Preston
Louis Moult (knee) is out long-term and injured trio Ben Davies, Darnell Fisher and Alan Browne are doubts having missed last Wednesday's 4-0 loss at Hull.

West Brom
No fresh injuries are reported for Albion, who have a fully fit squad.

Match preview

Consistency is hard to come by in the Sky Bet Championship but West Brom collected maximum points in November and they can make it five league wins on the bounce for the first time since March 2010 by winning at Preston.

Slaven Bilic's Baggies have lost just one league game, going down 1-0 to promotion rivals Leeds at Elland Road in October.

They believe they can win anywhere in the division and look attractively priced against North End, who have had a major wobble in recent weeks.

Preston went into the November international break in second place but successive defeats at Derby (0-1) and Hull (0-4) have seen them slip closer to the playoff-chasing pack.

Defensive injuries have been piling up and were a contributing factor to the poor performance at Hull.

Four defenders were ruled out of the clash at the Kcom, including first choice centre-back Ben Davies – a reported target for Premier League clubs – and regular right-back Darnell Fisher.

It was a case of square pegs in round holes, with midfielder Ryan Ledson slotting in at right-back and right-back Joe Rafferty sliding over to the left, and Alex Neil's team against West Brom could be broadly similar unless Davies or Fisher re-emerge from the treatment room.

Preston's makeshift back four were torn to shreds by talented Hull attackers Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki and will be just as vulnerable against Albion, who are the division's top scorers.

Albion no longer have a prolific marksman, as was the case last season with Dwight Gayle (23 goals) and Jay Rodriguez (22).

But all of their front four are contributing on a regular basis.

Going into the weekend, attacking midfielder Matheus Pereira had provided the most assists (eight) in the division.

Grady Diangana has delivered five assists and four goals while Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu have chipped in with goal tallies of six and five.

Summer signings Charlie Austin and Kenneth Zohore are struggling to get into the team and the sheer depth of Albion's attacking resources sets them apart from all their second-tier rivals.

Preston are a positive side with a superb home record of seven wins and two draws, and they will probably try to meet fire with fire.

They like to play at a high tempo and are a threat from corners and free-kicks with 14 of their 31 goals coming from set-pieces, the most in the division.

However, if Neil's side go toe-to-toe with West Brom, it may be asking for trouble.

The Baggies are at their best when spaces open up and look a solid bet to improve on the best away record in the Championship.

Key stat

West Brom are unbeaten in their last eight matches.

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