PNE moved into seventh place after Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers, although the bookmakers are expecting Birmingham to provide stiffer opposition on Saturday evening. Preston might have won five of their past six matches at Deepdale, yet Skybet are offering 2/1 that they land three points against their Midlands opponents.
This can be explained by City’s lofty position in the Championship, having accumulated 47 points from 22 matches to put them second in the table. Alex McLeish’s men narrowly won at Plymouth during the week, and could prove popular at 6/4 (Stan James) to record their third victory on the trot. The draw is a 23/10 chance (Paddy Power), although it’s worth noting that no Preston home match has ended all square this season.
Birmingham are blessed with attacking talent this season, with Kevin Phillips recently notching double figures for his latest club. The former Sunderland striker is 6/1 (bet365) to score first or last during this televised clash, although the likes of Cameron Jerome and Marcus Bent (both 13/2 with Coral) may be preferred to start. All three found the back of the net against Watford last Saturday, and bet365 chalk each forward up at around 2/1 to score at any time.
Nevertheless, Preston demonstrated when beating Reading that they can be a match for anyone in the division, and manager Alan Irvine might well give Jon Parkin a chance to shine against the Blues. The ex-Stoke striker broke his duck when scoring the winner against Doncaster on Tuesday night, and he’s 11/1 (bet365) to score first or last in this match. It all points to a low-scoring match at Deepdale, with Under 2.5 Goals being quoted at 8/11 (Blue Square) and a 1-0 scoreline 15/2 (Boylesports) and 7/1 (Ladbrokes) respectively.