Preston vs Watford

On Wednesday night, Preston North End hosts Watford in an attempt to escape the Championship relegation zone with a victory.

Watford, who is presently ranked seventh in the league, is traveling to Deepdale with the intention of winning their fifth game in eight second-tier encounters.

There was a sense that the storm clouds over Deepdale would soon clear when Paul Heckingbottom started his reign over Luton Town at Preston.

Rather, Preston has only managed two points out of a possible twelve points by losing each of their next four Championship games.

Despite respectable draws against Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, Preston lost 3-1 against Millwall this past weekend.

Due to this, the team is currently only three points out of 16th place in the standings, sitting in 22nd place only on goal differential.

Positively, Heckingbottom has managed to win every Preston home game while in command, avoiding losses to Blackburn, Fulham (EFL Cup), and Luton.

Watford, on the other hand, seemed to have lost all of its momentum after beginning the season with five straight wins across all competitions.

Despite the aforementioned flawless start in August, Tom Cleverley was left searching for explanations after three games after surrendering four points and suffering a 4-1 loss at Norwich.

But Watford bounced back on Saturday, defeating Sunderland by the same score, following a fierce 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the EFL Cup.

Despite the fact that a late penalty kick was required to get the three points, Watford's winning streak at Vicarage Road across all competitions now stands at six games in 2024–25.

As an extreme contrast, Watford's lone away win of the season dates back to the first weekend of the league.