Preston North End and Blackpool will both be looking to return to winning ways when they lock horns in the Championship on Tuesday night.
The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat at Derby County on Saturday afternoon, while Blackpool suffered a 4-1 home loss to Nottingham Forest last time out.
Match preview
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Preston suffered a 1-0 loss at Derby on Saturday, with Ravel Morrison netting the only goal of the match in the 80th minute, and it is now three games without a victory for Ryan Lowe's side, who occupy 15th spot in the table.
The Lilywhites have won 12, drawn 15 and lost 12 of their 39 Championship matches this season to collect 51 points, and they are 11 points behind sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers, so a push for the playoffs is unlikely even if they manage to go on a winning run over the next few weeks.
Preston actually now have three straight home league games against Blackpool, Queens Park Rangers and Millwall before a trip to Championship leaders Fulham on April 19.
Lowe's team have won six, drawn nine and lost three of their 18 home league fixtures this season, while Blackpool have also been inconsistent on their travels, posting four wins, seven draws and six defeats from 17 games.
Blackpool ran out 2-0 winners in the reverse match between the two sides earlier this season, but the pair played out a goalless draw when they last locked horns at Deepdale in February 2010.
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Blackpool will enter Tuesday's contest off the back of a 4-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, which left them in 14th position in the table, collecting 52 points from their 38 matches.
The Seasiders secured a return to the Championship through last season's League One playoffs, and they have no relegation fears at this stage, sitting 23 points ahead of 22nd-placed Barnsley.
Neil Critchley's side won three straight league matches against Reading, Stoke City and Swansea City between February 26 and March 12 before drawing with Sheffield United in the middle of March.
The home defeat to Nottingham Forest was certainly a setback, and they now have three straight away matches against Preston, Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion, while a busy April will also see them take on Birmingham City, Luton Town, Barnsley and Derby.
The Tangerines have only lost six of their 17 away league games this season, which is far from disastrous, but Preston have only been beaten three times in front of their own fans in the Championship in 2021-22.
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Team News
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Preston will be without the services of Greg Cunningham, Isaiah Brown, Tom Barkhuizen and Ched Evans on Tuesday night through injury, while Liam Lindsay is suspended following his red card against Derby.
Lindsay's absence will open the door for Sepp van den Berg to feature in the middle of the defence, and the home side could switch to a 3-4-1-2 formation.
Alan Browne and Ben Whiteman will continue in central midfield, while Evans's absence could lead to Sean Maguire coming into the starting side at centre-forward.
As for Blackpool, Grant Ward, Dujon Sterling and Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel will miss the match through injury, while Luke Garrett and Matthew Virtue are doubts due to fitness concerns.
Callum Connolly and Keshi Anderson are both pushing for recalls, with head coach Critchley likely to make changes from the side that suffered a heavy home loss on Saturday.
However, Jerry Yates and Gary Madine are likely to continue as the front two, with the pair netting 15 Championship goals between them during the 2021-22 campaign.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Potts, Browne, Whiteman, Rafferty; Johnson; Archer, Maguire
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; James, Ekpiteta, Thorniley, Husband; Bowler, Connolly, Dougall, Anderson; Yates, Madine
We say: Preston North End 1-1 Blackpool
Both teams will fancy their chances of picking up all three points on Tuesday, but we are struggling to separate them. Preston have drawn nine home Championship fixtures this term, while Blackpool have shared the points on seven occasions on their travels, so a low-scoring draw is a likely outcome here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Preston North End win with a probability of 43.78%. A win for Blackpool had a probability of 28.81% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Preston North End win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.65%) and 2-0 (8.37%). The likeliest Blackpool win was 0-1 (9.6%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.89%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Preston North End in this match.
