Preston v Blackburn: Tight derby tussle forecast

Preston v Blackburn
Monday April 25, 19:45
Sky Sports

Preston outclassed in midweek

Preston manager Ryan Lowe admitted his side were outclassed in the first half at Craven Cottage in midweek. The Lilywhites were beaten 3-0 by the Cottagers in the capital, with all the goals arriving before the half-time interval; Aleksandar Mitrovic netted twice with Fabio Carvalho also scoring as Fulham clinched promotion back to the Premier League.

PNE might have taken a surprise lead early on – home goalkeeper Marek Rodak was called into action to thwart Ched Evans and then tip Ben Whiteman’s long-range drive over the bar. But Lowe didn’t hide from the fact that there had been a gap in quality between the two teams thereafter as the Cottagers class came to the fore.

Lowe said, “I’m frustrated, I thought could have scored early and that would have changed the game. But you can’t give a team like Fulham opportunities to score like they did, hence it cost us a 3-0 scoreline at half-time. You only look at the star men who scored the goals, that is the difference. We lacked that little bit of quality whereas Fulham have that quality.”

Mowbray frustrated by Blackburn form

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray says there is ‘no hiding’ from Rovers poor form that has left their play-off hopes dangling by a thread. Defeat to Stoke on Easter Monday means it is only 11 points form the last 15 games – no Championship club has collected fewer points since the start of February – with Jacob Brown’s early goal the difference at Ewood Park.

Mowbray says the players created the expectation with their form in the first half of the season, with six consecutive wins to end 2021 having left them in the automatic promotion spots. But they have slid down the table since, with back-to-back defeats to Peterborough and Stoke leaving them likely needing maximum points from their remaining three games.

“This team and these players created this expectation and we have to take it on the chin, there’s no running away from it, no hiding from it. We’re all disappointed. Our aspiration was to get into the play-offs and get this club promoted, at this moment it looks like we’re falling short but there’s three games to go and we’re two points outside of the play-offs.”

Preston and Blackburn have been regular opponents since 2015/16 with the Lilywhites enjoying a W6-D2-L3 supremacy in head-to-head league meetings. North End have won three of their last four home league fixtures with Rovers, but were turned over in their most recent Deepdale match-up, and were beaten 1-0 in the reverse clash from Ewood Park.

Preston 2.767/4 have improved immeasurably under Ryan Lowe’s tutorship. The former Plymouth coach arrived in early December and has presided over W8-D9-L5 in the Championship, a top-half points per-game return across that sequence. The Lilywhites have proven particularly obdurate at Deepdale during that upswing, returning W4-D6-L1.

Blackburn 2.707/4 have collected the third-fewest Championship points this calendar year with Tony Mowbray’s team taking top honours in only four of their past 19 outings (W4-D6-L9). Rovers have scored just 10 goals during that lean streak and have failed to notch at all on 12 occasions. The visitors have W1-D3-L6 when playing away in 2022, scoring four goals.

Preston have scored multiple goals in only three of their last 15 league fixtures, but Ryan Lowe’s outfit have produced much-improved showings at the back, appearing more organised and resolute defensively. PNE have posted eight clean sheets in 17 Championship dates since the end of January; leading to 12/18 Both Teams To Score ‘No’ [1.95] winners.

Blackburn have found goalscoring tricky since December, firing blanks in 12 of their past 19 clashes. Yet Tony Mowbray’s troops have conceded twice or more just five times in 27 Championship matches since their 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Fulham back in November. It means a huge 16 of Rovers’ 19 dates this calendar year have seen Under 2.5 Goals 1.738/11.

Considering the goal-shy trends from both sides, I’m happy to take the bigger price on offer and support Both Teams To Score ‘No’ at 1.9520/21 on Monday night.