Watford vs Preston North End Prediction: The home side is facing the heat to reach playoffs stage

On Saturday afternoon, Watford will welcome Preston North End and aim to secure a victory that would help them stay within reach of the Championship playoffs. Currently, the Hornets are trailing by four points behind the top six, while their opponents, Preston, are in 12th position and just four points behind them in the league table.

Watford manager Slaven Bilic is potentially in a precarious position due to a recent string of disappointing results, despite there being no rumours or speculation about his job security. The team has only managed one victory and seven points in their last seven Championship matches, causing them to drop to eighth place in the league standings. The team's poor away record is partly to blame, with no wins in their last four road games, but they have also struggled to impress at home. While the team is on a four-game unbeaten run at Vicarage Road, they narrowly avoided a third consecutive draw in their last match against West Bromwich Albion. However, it should be noted that Watford has only lost two out of their last nine league fixtures, with those defeats coming against Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, who currently hold the third and second positions in the league, respectively.

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Ryan Lowe's team at Preston have faced inconsistency in the 2022-23 season, but they are currently enjoying their longest unbeaten run since August. In their last four games, they have collected six points, with two draws and a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic. Although Lowe would have preferred more from their recent game against Coventry City, a goalless draw against one of the in-form teams in the division is a respectable result. Currently, eight points behind the playoffs, Preston's position has been helped by Luton Town and Millwall's draw in their recent match. However, if they secure a win in their upcoming weekend game, they will be back in the running for a top-six spot.

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Preston's recent resurgence has given them hope of securing a positive result at Vicarage Road. Nevertheless, Watford is feeling the heat to attack, which may favour Bilic's team, who are trying to close the gap in the promotion race for the second tier. Our projection for the game is in favour of Watford against Preston North End, with an expectation of at least two goals being scored.