Preston North End vs Norwich City Prediction: The teams are evenly matched

Preston North End and Norwich City FC will meet at Deepdale this upcoming Saturday afternoon for Game Week 27 of the EFL Championship. The two clubs stand at 10th and 11th points, respectively, with just one point separating the two. A win for Norwich would mean climbing up to the 8th position, while a win for Preston would also mean a climb up in the table to the fourth place. 

Preston North End have had a more challenging time in the Championship than their opponents. They have a form of just two wins and four losses from the last six matches. However, their FA Cup performance was commendable, scoring thrice against Huddersfield in the final half-hour. Their last result, a 1-0 victory at Stoke City, might give a heavy sigh of relief to manager Ryan Lowe. The team might even rank fourth in the Championship and be level with Watford.

Woodman; Diaby, Lindsay, Hughes; Browne, McCann, Whiteman, Johnson, Fernandez; Delap, Evans

Norwich's ability to rally and defeat Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup may have had David Wagner pessimistic after having had limited time with his new squad last week. Ultimately, the Canaries were defeated by Jack Vale in the first half, extending their five-game winless streak.

In nine matches, Norwich has registered just six goals, highlighting the main concern for Wagner as he considers ways to motivate this group. After two wins and two losses away from Carrow Road, the East Anglian side will travel to Preston, having won two of their last three games.

Due to their three-point gap from the top six, Wagner faces plenty of pressure from day one, especially when only one point separates them from 15th-placed Swansea City.

Krul; Aarons, Omobamidele, Hanley, McCallum; Sara, McLean, Nunez; Idah, Pukki, Sinani

As soon as Liam Delap finishes his loan spell at Stoke City and moves to Deepdale, Lowe could give him his Preston debut. Due to a knee injury, Emil Riis Jakobsen will spend a lengthy period on the sidelines. Ched Evans and Ben Whiteman are expected to return after being rested for Huddersfield's FA Cup victory. In contention for recalls are Kieran Dowell and Danel Sinani, both of whom started the Blackburn game. Sam McCallum may return at left-back, but Isaac Hayden is out in the long term, and Todd Cantwell is unlikely to return. Following last weekend's FA Cup exit, Norwich will be eager to impress under their new manager. However, Preston have recently got back on track, and a competitive low-scoring draw seems most likely. Talking about the stats, Preston North End vs Norwich City's head-to-head record shows that of the 15 meetings they have had, Preston North End has won 5 times and Norwich City has won 4 times. 6 fixtures between Preston North End and Norwich City has ended in a draw. The match can go either way but we expect Preston win or a draw at the end of 90 minutes. One can expect fewer then 2.5 goals in the match.