Blackburn Rovers vs Preston North End Prediction: Lilywhites likely to down rivals

The last Lancashire derby between Blackburn and Preston made countrywide headlines as North End forward Milan Osmajic avoided a red card despite biting Rovers defender Owen Beck’s neck. That September meeting was a fiery affair but there were no fireworks in the scoring department, with the game finishing 0-0 at Deepdale.

The rivals meet again on Friday night and a tight game can be expected at Ewood Park, with just five points separating Blackburn in seventh and Preston in 15th in an extremely congested Championship.

Football Odds

Bet Builder - Preston or draw double chance, over 39.5 booking points, under 2.5 goals @ 12/5 

Team news

This game has come at a bad time for Blackburn as they will be without Scott Wharton, Zak Gilsenan, Arnor Sigurdsson, Yuki Ohashi, Sondre Tronstad and Hayden Carter for Friday’s derby.

Todd Cantwell and Harry Pickering are also doubts and John Eustace may have a barebones squad to choose from.

Preston, meanwhile, have no injuries to worry about and Paul Heckingbottom may stick with the side which beat Middlesbrough last time.

Match Odds - Blackburn Rovers vs Preston North End

Home advantage means Blackburn are favourites at Evens, with Preston chalked up at 13/5 and the draw available at 21/10.
Both teams to score has landed in six of the last eight head-to-heads and can be backed at Evens, with over 2.5 goals another option at 5/4.
Blackburn forwards Makhtar Gueye and Harry Leonard are joint-favourites to open the scoring, both priced up at 11/2.

Preston North End draw no bet @ 13/8

With Blackburn sitting seventh and boasting home advantage, it could be tempting to back them to win this Lancashire derby.

However, Rovers will be without a number of key players on Friday and a run of three straight defeats means confidence will be low for this visit from their rivals Preston, who, in contrast, are in great form.

North End have gone five matches without a defeat and their fully-fit squad will be in great spirits after securing wins over playoff-chasing duo Watford and Middlesbrough.

Given the form and respective injuries of this pair, it could pay to disregard league position and back Preston to earn the bragging rights in Friday’s clash.

Bet Builder - Preston or draw double chance, over 39.5 booking points, under 2.5 goals @ 12/5 

Preston look the likelier winners and a run of five matches without a defeat against Blackburn only further enhances that impression.

Take the visitors to earn at least a point for the first leg of a bet builder, with bookings a great place to look for the second.

There were 11 cards dished out in the reverse fixture, including two reds, suggesting 40 booking points (yellow card = 10 points, red card = 25 points) should be hit with ease at Ewood Park.

While there may be plenty of cards on Friday, the goals tally is unlikely to be quite as high. Only five of Preston’s last 14 Championship games have gone over 2.5 goals and another low-scoring North End clash should be expected.

Football Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.