Preston v Bristol City Tips: Little to separate these two at Deepdale

Preston welcome Bristol City to Deepdale in this Friday’s helping of Championship action. Both sides enter this match-up in poor form with Preston losing 2-1 to Barnsley and Bristol City falling victim to a 2-0 defeat against Millwall at the weekend. 

It is the hosts who are bookmaker favourites here, though, priced at 5/4 and given a 44% chance of claiming victory on home soil. Bristol City are 11/5 (31% chance) while the draw is a best-price 23/10 with Paddy Power. 

Alex Neil has the luxury of a full squad to choose from for this one, with only Louis Moult sidelined with a knee injury and Daniel Johnson out due to suspension. City, however, are without Nathan Baker, Alfie Mawson and Andreas Wiemann because of injury, while Rene Gilmartin is suspended. 

I’ve taken a look at both sides’ recent form and statistics to cook up three football tips for Friday’s game, each of which can be found below. The clash will be shown live on Sky Sports, kicking off at 8:00pm. 

• Full-time draw @ 23/10 with Paddy Power
• Alan Browne to be booked and Tomas Kalas 1+ shot on target @ 31/1 with Paddy Power
• Scott Sinclair and Nahki Wells 2+ shots on target each and Wells to be booked @ 174/1 with Paddy Power

My first pick is simply a full-time draw. With little to separate these two teams at present, I can see this one being a very close-knit affair; both teams have lost their last two games and therefore head into this game low on confidence. 

The Robins have fallen to back-to-back 2-0 defeats against Rotherham and Millwall, while Preston have conceded five goals and scored just once in their last two outings so it really is difficult to tell who will prevail in West Lancashire.

Interestingly, the last three games between these two teams have been a draw (1-1, 3-3, 1-1) which only adds fuel to my theory that this game will be another stalemate. Paddy’s have this priced up at 23/10 which I think looks a fair price. 

Second up, it’s a 31/1 shot with Paddy Power consisting of Alan Browne to be booked and Thomas Kalas to have a shot on target.

Preston midfielder Browne has picked up six bookings so far this term and is unsurprisingly his club’s most-booked player. He also commits on average 1.6 fouls per game (second most behind Darnell Fisher, who averages 1.7). In fact, the 25-year-old is the most-booked player in the whole division so far and with him right in the middle of things I can see him picking up another card in this one. 

Browne found his way into the referees notepad last time out against Barnsley so here’s hoping he can make it two in two and help us land this bet. 

Bristol City defender Tomas Kalas doubles up this selection. The Czech centre-half has registered three shots on target so far this season, scoring once, and poses such an aerial threat from set plays. If the visitors can pick him out from a corner or a free-kick then I think Kalas will have the perfect opportunity to test Preston stopper Declan Rudd. 

Finally, a longshot for the optimists among us, priced at a mouthwatering 174/1 with Paddy Power.

Scott Sinclair has been a revelation for PNE since joining the club in January, scoring seven league goals in 18 appearances this season, which sees him among the top-six goalscorers in the division so far (currently a 100/1-shot in the Championship top scorer betting). 

The former Man City wide man unsurprisingly ranks the highest for shots on target at Deepdale with 12 and is playing with so much confidence right now - something which was highlighted by his stunning long-range goal against Bournemouth earlier this month (see video below). I can see Sinclair proving a thorn in the visitors’ side here, and hope that he can pop off a few shots on target for the sake of our longshot. 

Like Sinclair is for Preston, Nahki Wells is Bristol City’s biggest attacking threat with five league goals to his name so far. Again, just like his counterpart at Preston, the 30-year-old has registered 12 shots on target in the Championship this time out, proving just how positive he is when he is presented with a slight sight of goal. If anyone is going to pepper the Lilywhites goal here, I’d imagine it to be Wells.

Although a fine force in front of the net, the same cannot be said for Wells’ tackling ability. The ex-Burnley front man has committed an average of 1.3 fouls per game this term, behind only Callum O’Dowda in this particular field, while he has found his name taken three times - no Robins player has more in 2020/21. With this considered, I’m getting behind Wells to pick up another booking to round off this 174/1 play.

Good luck to anyone following any of these selections, but please remember to gamble responsibly.