Preston vs Sheffield United Prediction: Blades too sharp for struggling North End

Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom welcomes former club Sheffield United to Deepdale for a big Championship showdown on Friday night (20:00, Sky Sports Football). It has been a bad week so far for North End with back-to-back defeats at the hands of West Brom and Birmingham whereas Chris Wilder's buoyant Blades have finally moved out of the bottom three after a torrid start to the season.

Steve Davies provides his Preston vs Sheffield United predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

North End are still missing Brad Potts, Will Keane and Robbie Brady. Three-goal Milutin Osmajic was on the bench in the 1-0 home loss to Birmingham so can expect to be recalled.

United have been rocked by an injury to Gus Hamer, yet in their star forward's absence have still managed two wins out of two. Hamer will still be out on Friday.

Preston vs Sheffield United Odds

Preston are 15/8 to get back to winning ways, United 13/8 to make it three in a row while the draw is a 21/10 shot.

A cautious, low-scoring encounter is anticipated with under 2.5 goals trading at 8/13.

Draw or Sheff Utd Double Chance & Over 1.5 @ 11/10

Wilder's Blades enjoyed a fruitful trip to Lancashire on Tuesday night and they should fancy they can pull off a Roses double when they head back there on Friday.

United moved out of the bottom three courtesy of their come-from-behind 3-1 triumph at Blackburn, three days after a 1-0 win over Watford.

Wilder has definitely breathed some of his famed fight and resilience into United, who have now won three in their last five after losing seven in a row under Ruben Selles.

And Preston have lost their way a little though boss Heckingbottom was screaming foul on Tuesday night at some of the key decisions which he felt went against them in a 1-0 loss to Birmingham.

North End have now won just two of their last nine and were beaten twice by United last season.

But they played well against Birmingham and do draw games - they have some way to match last season's remarkable haul of 20 stalemates, but they are already up to four.

The United-draw Double Chance, therefore, looks a runner and tied in with over 1.5 match goals it works out at 11/10.

Away Team Total Corners Over 4.5 @ 4/5

Sheffield United are the Championship corner kings this season, averaging over seven a game.

When you have been chasing as many games as United have - and they have been behind in nine of their 11 matches - it is understandable that they start to apply pressure, hence chances and corners.

They may not need to chase at Deepdale if this week's form stands up but even so the stats suggest they should have little difficulty chalking up at least five corners.

Offers

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