Preview: Preston North End vs. Norwich City - prediction, team news, lineups

Runaway Championship leaders Norwich City will be looking to continue their charge back towards the Premier League when they travel to an out-of-form Preston North End side on Friday.

Norwich are currently top of the Championship, eight points clear of second-placed Watford, while Preston, who sacked manager Alex Neil on March 21, are down in 16th position in the second tier.

Match preview

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Preston announced on March 21 that Neil had been sacked as head coach following a run of just one win in nine Championship games; the 1-0 home loss to Luton Town on March 20 proved to be the 39-year-old's final game at the helm, and Frankie McAvoy will be in charge on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

The Lilywhites finished ninth in the second tier last term but are currently down in 16th position in the table, nine points clear of the bottom three.

It is difficult to imagine Preston being pulled into any sort of relegation trouble in the coming weeks, but they have lost 20 of their 38 Championship games this season, which is the second-worst record in the division.

The strugglers have lost four of their last five in the league, meanwhile, picking up just a single point during that run, losing to Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Luton in the process.

McAvoy would not have wanted to be facing the Championship leaders in his first match in charge, but the international break has at least given the interim boss plenty of time to prepare for the contest.

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Norwich will not be in the mood to hand out any favours in this game, though, as they look to continue their impressive run of form in the Championship.

The Canaries had been on a nine-game winning run in the league before drawing 1-1 at home to Blackburn Rovers before the international break, with Sam Gallagher securing a point for the visitors.

Daniel Farke's side have not lost in the Championship since the start of February, and it is very difficult to imagine that they will not be playing Premier League football once again next season.

The gap to second-placed Watford currently stands at eight points, while they are 14 points clear of third-placed Swansea City, which is an indication of their strength in the automatic promotion positions.

The visitors will be looking to take advantage of any uncertainty in the Preston camp, but the Lilywhites secured a share of the spoils when the two teams locked horns at Carrow Road in September.

Team News

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Preston will again be without the services of Alan Browne through suspension, while Jayson Molumby is a doubt, with the midfielder not expected to be back with the squad until Thursday, having been with the Republic of Ireland during the international break.

Louis Moult, Patrick Bauer and Declan Rudd are also still unavailable through injury, meaning that it will be a similar squad to the one that was available against Luton last time out.

Interim boss McAvoy is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes, although Tom Barkhuizen and Sean Maguire could both come into the starting side.

As for Norwich, on-loan Burnley defender Ben Gibson will miss the remainder of the season due to a serious ankle injury, while Adam Idah is also out following a hernia operation.

Lukas Rupp could return from the hamstring problem that forced him to miss out against Blackburn, but a number of players have been away on international duty, meaning that Farke will need to assess the fitness of the returning individuals before making a decision on their involvement.

Christoph Zimmermann should replace Gibson at the back, while Jakob Sorensen could come in for Dimitris Giannoulis, but the Canaries might otherwise be unchanged from the clash with Blackburn.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Van den Berg, Storey, Lindsay, Rafferty; Whiteman, Ledson; Maguire, Johnson, Barkhuizen; Evans

Norwich City possible starting lineup:

Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Zimmermann, Sorensen; Skipp, McLean; Buendia, Dowell, Cantwell; Pukki

We say: Preston North End 1-2 Norwich City

McAvoy will have his Preston players fired up for Friday's game against the best team in the league, but the home side could ultimately come up just short; we are expecting an improvement from the Lilywhites, who have underperformed this season. Norwich's form is so strong, though, and we fancy them to secure another three points.