Preston vs Blackburn Prediction: Lilywhites are just too strong at home

The Friday night serving of EFL Championship action provides a Lancashire derby as Preston North End host Blackburn Rovers at Deepdale (20:00 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event). There was plenty of spice in this fixture last season as former Rovers loanee Owen Beck was sent off, not before he was bitten by Preston forward Milutin Osmajic, who later received a lengthy ban.

Read on for my Preston vs Blackburn predictions, featuring the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Robbie Brady (calf), Ali McCann (arm) and Lewis Gibson and Andrija Vukcevic (both muscle) remain long-term absentees for Preston due to injury.

Brad Potts has missed a lot of football since March owing to a hamstring problem, and he continues to build up his fitness in preparation for a return to action.

Last year's villain, Osmajic, is out due to suspension for racially abusing Burnley's Hannibal Mejbri in 2024/25.

Boss Paul Heckingbottom has confirmed that trio Will Keane, Daniel Jebbison and Pol Valentin could all be in positions to feature on Friday.

Football Odds

Blackburn's Moussa Baradji is expected to be out for a period of time following foot surgery. The visitors are also having to cope without Balasz Toth (knee), Augustus Kargbo (calf) and Jake Garrett (leg) for this trip.

Scott Wharton won't be back until the new year after he ruptured his Achilles tendon against Bristol City earlier in the month. Influential playmaker Todd Cantwell has sat out of his side's past six fixtures, and he will need to be monitored ahead of the game.

Today's Football Fixtures

Preston vs Blackburn Odds

Preston have won five of their eight home fixtures in the league this term and they are 6/4 (implied probability of 40%) to prevail against their local rivals.

Their last outing was a 1-1 draw at Millwall and the stalemate on Friday is priced at 21/10.

Blackburn are 2/1 to come away with the three points and they have won four of their seven away contests in the second tier.

Four of the hosts' eight home games have produced over 2.5 goals, including the previous two. This market is available at 5/4.

Match Result - Preston @ 6/4

This is a very interesting contest on paper, and not just because their are bragging rights on the line. You have a team with one of the best home records in the division up against a side with one of the strongest away records.

Yet, Preston are all the way up in fourth and Blackburn are down in 19th. Before losing their last match against another form side in Derby County, Rovers had won three on the bounce and I still think they will have some momentum to bring to Deepdale.

However, Preston have been a very tough nut to crack on home soil. They have lost just one of their eight appearances here, winning five of them. The Lilywhites head into Friday's derby unbeaten in four games, having won three in the process.

Given Rovers' away record I am expecting this to be a tight contest but I fancy Heckingbottom's men to come out on top.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 10/11

I do believe that this can be an entertaining affair given how well Preston are doing at home and how Blackburn are faring on their travels. With that in mind, I think backing both teams to get on the scoresheet could be a smart play.

You may think this is concerning because BTTS - Yes has failed to land in any of Rovers' fixtures on the road in 2025/26, however, there have been goals at both ends in four of Preston's eight home matches in the league.

Additionally, there has been a running BTTS theme of late in this fixture, with seven of the past nine Championship meetings seeing both sides find the net.

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