Sports Mole previews Monday’s Championship clash between Preston North End and Leicester City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Leicester City make the trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End looking for the win that could secure the Championship title.
While the Foxes have already secured promotion to the Premier League, Preston are down in 10th position in the standings with nothing but pride to play for.
Match preview
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There have been times in recent weeks when Leicester have appeared to be struggling with the pressure of leading the table all season without quickly getting over the line.
However, Enzo Maresca‘s side have produced two entirely different performances to finally achieve their target, battling their way past West Bromwich Albion before thrashing Southampton three days later.
While Leicester undoubtedly rode their luck versus West Brom, they did what was necessarily to earn a 2-1 win at the King Power Stadium, ending a run of two 1-0 defeats in a row.
That set them up to face Southampton in the East Midlands on Tuesday, yet few people foreseen a five-goal demolition job against opponents who could have moved to within four points of Leicester with two matches remaining.
Maresca and his Leicester squad would have expected Leeds United to overcome Queens Park Rangers on Friday night, yet they were able to watch without being on the edge of their seat as the Hoops sensationally recorded a 4-0 victory at Loftus Road.
Depending on how Ipswich Town fare at Hull City on Saturday night, beating Preston on Monday could lead to the East Midlands outfit winning the title with a game to spare.
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Preston have been in the promotion race throughout this campaign, Ryan Lowe‘s side finding a second wind to lose just once in 10 games between the end of January and end of March.
Nevertheless, just like they did last season, Preston have dropped off during the run-in, collecting just four points from their most recent six fixtures.
Recent losses to Norwich City, Southampton and QPR have come without Preston getting on the scoresheet. They have also failed to net in five of their last six fixtures.
Lowe’s side head into this contest with eighth place their likely best-case scenario, although dropping down to 12th still remains a possibility.
Preston North End Championship form:
Leicester City Championship form:
Team News
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Lowe will likely make at least one change to the Preston XI from the defeat to QPR, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen expected to return in a creative role in midfield.
With next season in mind, Layton Stewart could also make his first start of the campaign, with Ben Woodburn and Emil Riis dropping out.
Ali McCann, Brad Potts and Ben Whiteman are all on the sidelines for Preston.
Maresca may opt to select the same Leicester XI from the win over Southampton as Leicester bid to lift the second-tier crown.
If there is one alteration, it may see Hamza Choudhury return to the side at right-back in place of Ricardo Pereira.
As it stands, Maresca has a fully-fit squad to select from ahead of the trip to the North-West.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Millar, Browne, Ledson, Brady; Frokjaer-Jensen; Stewart, Keane
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Vardy, Mavididi
We say: Preston North End 2-2 Leicester City
Given that Leicester were in celebratory on Friday night, it remains unclear how they will rock up for this contest. Although they will be eager to win the title, we do not expect them to perform to their absolute best, leading us to predict a high-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.