Preston North End vs Millwall Prediction: Mid-table affair may produce draw

We’ve got some Championship action coming our way on Tuesday night as Preston North End face Millwall in a mid-table battle. This one is live on Sky Sports+ at 19:45, as Alex Neil returns to the place he called home for four years. 

This should be an intriguing second tier encounter and below I have given my Preston North End vs Millwall predictions, featuring betting tips and more. Check them out.

Team News

There’s some positive news for the home side as Ali McCann is available for selection having served a two-game suspension for picking up 10 yellow cards this term. He will be back in fold, while we can also expect Robbie Brady and Emil Riis Jakobsen to contest for starting spots after they both came off the bench on their return from injury v Burnley. 

Ben Whiteman is still out with the ankle injury which he picked up in January during training, while Jordan Storey is set to be sidelined until April. Paul Heckingbottom had some bad news for the press regarding Jack Whatmough, who looks like he is out for the rest of the campaign.

“Jack's going to be out for a while, yeah, nasty one," Heckingbottom told the Evening Post. "Whether we see him again this season is doubtful. Yeah, another blow to him, to us."

Meanwhile, Duane Holmes was sent to hospital after a poor challenge from Shane Duffy, and is another player that Preston fans might not see until next season. 

For Millwall, Neil hopes to have to have a forward option back for the trip to Deepdale. Macaulay Langstaff remains sidelined with an injury but Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn could make a return.

“Macaulay is not available at the moment,” said Neil to the South London News.

“He didn’t get left out – he’s still injured.

“He (Coburn) wasn’t quite ready for today. I’m very hopeful he might be ready for Preston. If not Preston then it will definitely be the next one, provided things go as they have done.”

They do also have a number of serious injuries. Calum Scanlon has a hamstring injury which has him out until the end of the month while Dan McNamara has a serious knee injury that sees him absent for the foreseeable. Ryan Leonard suffered a significant calf injury in the same game as McNamara and will also be out for a lengthy period.

Preston North End vs Millwall Odds

The home side are available at 11/8 to win their seventh home game of the campaign giving them an implied win probability of 42%. A draw can be backed at 2/1 while Millwall are 12/5 to secure only their fourth away win of the season. 

Over 2.5 goals has only come in during 28% of Millwall matches and that can be backed at 7/4, BTTS is 5/4 and Milutin Osmajic is the favourite to score first at 6/1. 

Football Odds

Draw @ 2/1

I’m going to sit on the fence for this fixture between two well-matched outfits. Preston put in a gutsy display to draw 0-0 with Lancashire rivals Burnley last time out, while Millwall drew 1-1 with play-off chasing West Brom. Those results mean that Preston sit 15th, with Millwall 14th and they have both accumulated 41 points, with the Lions marginally ahead on goal difference. 

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see these two finish exactly as they are, nestled together in mid-table, and so I think the value lies in a draw on Tuesday night. Millwall won the reverse fixture 3-1 back in September, but I believe the home side will be able to put up more of a fight at Deepdale. PNE have drawn eight games at home already, more than any other side in the league - and I’m happy to back them to make it nine this midweek.

Ali McCann to get booked @ 2/1

He’s back available for selection, and I’m backing him to end up in the referee’s notebook in what could be a feisty encounter. Neil is returning to the Deepdale dugout, but he will be going head-to-head with the hot-headed Stuart McCall, rather than Heckingbottom, as the PNE manager serves a touchline suspension. 

Preston have the worst disciplinary record in the Championship this season and sit bottom of the Fair Play table having accumulated 83 yellows and four red cards so far, giving them a total of 99 points. Meanwhile, McCann himself has picked up 10 yellows in 26 appearances, while he is also averaging 1.5 fouls per game. 

I think he is the value pick to pick up a card in what could be a difficult encounter for the man in the middle to control. 

Football Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.