Preview: Watford vs Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Preston North End will be looking to claim a second straight victory when they take on Watford in Tuesday's Championship encounter.

The Hornets, meanwhile, will be keen to end their five-game winless run in all competitions.

Match preview

Watford boss Alessio Dionisi started his tenure with back-to-back wins over Crawley Town and Southampton in the EFL Cup and Championship respectively.

However, the positivity built by those victories had ebbed away with a five-game winless run that is made up of four Championship matches and a surprise 5-1 defeat to League One side Peterborough United in the EFL Cup.

In the league, Watford have followed consecutive draws with back-to-back away defeats, including a narrow 1-0 loss in Saturday's clash against West Bromwich Albion.

Having collected five points from as many games, the Hornets head into the midweek round of fixtures in 17th spot in the Championship table, three points adrift of the top eight and two points clear of the bottom three.

Watford will be hoping to add three points to their tally by beating Preston for the first time since running out 5-1 winners at Deepdale in December 2023.

Meanwhile, it has been nearly six years since they recorded their most recent home win over Preston via a sizeable 4-1 scoreline in November 2020.

Preston made a woeful start to the Championship season with four consecutive defeats, including a 3-1 home loss to Bristol City last Tuesday.

However, they will head into Wednesday's fixture with renewed belief after clinching their first victory of the season in Saturday's Lancashire derby against Blackburn Rovers.

Callum Lang's first-half brace proved enough to fire his side to a 2-1 victory, representing PNE's first win over Blackburn since November 2023.

The victory lifted Preston off the foot of the table, but they are still in the danger zone, sitting a point adrift of safety ahead of Tuesday's trip to Vicarage Road.

Paul Heckingbottom's side still have work to do defensively, considering they have shipped 10 goals across their first five league games, with only Burnley conceding more in the early stages of the Championship season.

Preston last recorded a clean sheet against Watford in a goalless draw in October 2024, a result that started a five-game unbeaten run for PNE in this fixture (W2, D3).

Watford Championship form:

Watford form (all competitions):

Preston North End Championship form:

Preston North End form (all competitions):

Team News

Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove is likely to miss Tuesday’s fixture after picking up an injury in the narrow defeat to West Brom.

The Hornets are also expected to be without the services of Jeremy Ngakia, Marc Bola, Kwado Baah and Jack Grieves.

Defender Omar Haktab Traore and midfielder Branimir Mlacic will need to be assessed after missing Saturday’s game due to calf and hip issues respectively.

As for visitors, Heckingbottom is unable to call upon Brad Potts and Ali McCann, with the latter set to be out for a considerable period after sustaining a hamstring injury last month.

Andrew Hughes is closing in on a return to action, although it remains to be seen whether he will be ready to play a role in Tuesday’s contest.

Liam Gibbs and Johnny Kenny could be given more minutes off the bench after making their Preston debuts as substitutes in Saturday’s win over Blackburn.

Watford possible starting lineup:

Ravaglia; Keben, Coulibaly, Pollock, Zemura; Kyprianou, Kayembe; Bavo, Payero, Mamma; Kjerrumgaard

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Clarke, Storey, Gibson, Wiley; Mills, Leroy, Thompson, Devine; Lang, Burgzorg

We say: Watford 1-1 Preston North End

Watford may be winless in five competitive games, but they have taken four points from their first two home league matches, which is why we think they will avoid defeat on Tuesday, although we believe they will have to be content with a share of the spoils.

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