West Brom vs Preston Prediction: Three predictions for Wednesday's Championship action

The final bit of midweek Championship action takes place at the Hawthorns as West Brom welcome Preston North End on Wednesday evening.

The Baggies were as dominant as ever in their 3-0 victory over Peterborough at the weekend, though it was not as straightforward as the score suggests. It took 78 minutes for Valerien Ismael’s side to break the deadlock when Darnell Furlong’s toe poke deflected past Steven Benda via Cedric Kipre’s shin. A touch fortunate perhaps, but deserved nevertheless as WBA racked up 27 shots to Peterborough's one.  

Ismael was dealt a blow this week though with big money January signing Daryl Dike ruled out for up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury. The American frontman was WBA’s top priority this transfer window, so this news is less than ideal considering he was signed to help end their woes in front of goal that is seeing them underperform their expect xG by five goals. 

Callum Robinson should replace Dike. Grady Diangana could also come into that narrow frontline after impressing from the bench last game. Alex Mowatt and Sam Johnstone will also more than likely get straight back into the starting XI after serving their suspension.

Andrew Hughes back available for the visitors and Ryan Lowe is expected to put him straight back into the starting lineup. Price wise, the value may lie with North End as well. West Brom are priced odds on at around 31/50 yet have only won 41% of their games when priced accordingly.

Preston have made quite a start to life under the tutelage of their new supremo. In fact, the 1-0 defeat against Swansea was the only blemish on Lowe’s short stint thus far. 

The Swans become the only team to stop Lowe’s side from scoring on Saturday and with only 0.14 xGD separating the sides on the day, the Lilywhites should consider themselves unfortunate to have left South Wales empty handed. 

Prior to that match, both teams to score had landed in all four of Preston’s fixtures as the games averaged 2.4 goals. As the 2-2 draw against Sheffield united illustrates, Lowe has already managed to instil a never say die attitude into his squad. Despite having a man less, PNE came from two goals down to secure a point in the last minute of that game. However, they are far from the finished article and with the league's lowest scorers and genuine worst side Barnsley scoring against them, their defence clearly needs tightening. 

Even with the absence of Dike, I still think BTTS is a touch long here.

Ched Evans has always had an edge, he has always been equally prolific in front of goal as he is familiar with the officials and this is best illustrated by the fact that the former Wales international has 101 goals, 33 assists, 48Y and 2R cards. 

This season though, for the first time in his career, his hot head has taken precedence over the ice in his veins. Evans has had Championship referees reaching for their pocket twice as many times (4) as he has had opposition keepers picking his shots out of the back of their net (2). 

Only Josh Earl (1.6) has a higher fouls per game average then Evans (1.3) which goes a little way to explaining why he has averaged one every 155 minutes played in the league this season. 

Keith Stroud has the whistle for this clash, a man who has dealt an average of over four cards a game in this division this season. 

Evans' cynical nature combined with the physicality of WBA’s backline has all the makings of an intriguing battle and with Stroud overseeing the one, I think there is every chance Evans will go into the book.

As previously alluded to, Evans has always scored goals. In a career spanning eleven seasons and 317 games, he has generated a goals per 90 average of 0.42 and if you were to translate that into a price, 6/4 would represent value here. 

It is worth noting though, that PNE’s striker has not scored in any of his last five appearances which is why I do not think this goal is worth backing as a single. However, a small play on the goal, card double is worth a small punt for fun, especially considering that it leaves the door open for a last minute winner.

Best of luck if you are backing any of these selections and please remember to gamble responsibly.