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

League leaders Preston North End will attempt to continue their unbeaten start to the Championship season when they welcome Birmingham City to Deepdale on Tuesday.

While the hosts are experiencing a fine run of form, Birmingham will be looking for a response after suffering their first league defeat of the season at the weekend.

Match preview

After finishing in 12th place last season, Preston have caught many onlookers by surprise with the fast start that they have made to the new campaign.

Since playing out a 1-1 draw with Bristol City in the season's curtain-raiser, Ryan Lowe's side have embarked on an impressive run, claiming five consecutive victories to move to the top of the Championship table.

Their most recent win took place on Saturday when they edged out Plymouth Argyle at Deepdale after Duane Holmes gave his side the lead inside 45 seconds before Liam Millar marked his debut with a goal to double his new side's advantage.

Although Plymouth pulled a goal back in the second period, Preston saw out the remainder of the encounter to win a third consecutive home game by a 2-1 scoreline.

Incidentally, the league leaders claimed a 2-1 victory in their most recent meeting with Birmingham at St Andrew's in March, although they have failed to win their last three head-to-head home meetings.

Like their hosts, Birmingham also made an encouraging start to the 2023-24 campaign, with their first five league matches yielding 11 points.

After drawing with Swansea City in their league opener, they put together a run of three consecutive victories before a home meeting with Millwall produced a 1-1 scoreline.

Birmingham looked set to extend their unbeaten start on Saturday, but Lee Buchanan's late red card against Watford proved to be decisive as the Hornets made full use of the numerical advantage to score two stoppage-time goals and condemn the Blues to a 2-0 defeat.

After suffering their first loss of the season, John Eustace's side dropped from fourth to sixth place in the Championship table, which is still regarded as a promising position for a club that finished in 17th spot last term.

With Tuesday's visitors hoping to produce an immediate response, they may be able to draw inspiration from the 1-0 victory that they recorded on their trip to Deepdale last season.

Preston North End Championship form:

Preston North End form (all competitions):

Birmingham City Championship form:

Birmingham City form (all competitions):

Team News

Preston are still unable to call upon the injured trio of Ched Evans, Emil Riis and Calvin Ramsay, while top scorer Will Keane is also set to miss out once again after picking up an injury on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

Ben Whiteman and Robbie Brady returned from injury to feature as substitutes on Saturday, and the pair will hope to get more minutes from the bench in Tuesday's contest as they look to build up their match fitness.

After making their debuts at the weekend, Millar and Milutin Osmajic are expected to retain their places in the side, with Lowe set to name an unchanged lineup.

As for the visitors, they will travel to Deepdale without Siriki Dembele, Ethan Laird, Tyler Roberts, George Hall and Alfie Chang, who are all sidelined with injury issues.

Left-back Emmanuel Longelo is set to replace Buchanan, who is suspended for the midweek away trip following his red card against Watford.

Lukas Jutkiewicz will serve the final match of a three-match suspension after being sent off in last month's EFL Cup defeat to Cardiff City.

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, McCann, Ledson, Millar; Holmes, Browne, Osmajic

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Ruddy; Drameh, Sanderson, Long, Longelo; Sunjic, Bielik; Burke, Stansfield, Anderson, Hogan

We say: Preston North End 1-0 Birmingham City

Preston are currently in irrepressible form, and after winning all three league home games this season, we think that they will make full use of home advantage once again to edge out Birmingham in Tuesday's encounter.

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Top tip

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