Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Sheffield Wednesday will be seeking a third Championship victory on the bounce when they welcome an out-of-sorts Preston North End to Hillsborough on Saturday.

Victories over Hull City and Derby County have propelled Danny Rohl's side into the top half of the standings and they can further underline their play-off credentials with a positive result this weekend.

Preston have failed to win any of their last eight Championship games - a sequence that has seen them slip to within three points of the relegation zone - but they are hard to beat, drawing six times during that winless run.

Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End betting tips and predictions

Draw - 9/4

Such is the nature of the Championship, back-to-back wins has turned Sheffield Wednesday's thoughts from getting dragged into the relegation battle into a potential play-off challenge.

However, those victories over Hull and Derby both came on the road and the Owls have now collected more points on their travels than they have at Hillsborough this season.

Home wins have been hard to come by, with Wednesday triumphing in just two of their last eight Championship games on their own patch, a run that includes a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Watford.

A home clash with a Preston side struggling for wins could be seen as the ideal fixture for Wednesday to improve their patchy Hillsborough form, but despite failing to register a victory since mid-October, Saturday's visitors are difficult to beat.

Not only have North End shared the spoils in six of their last eight in the league, but their tally of nine draws this season is the second most in the Championship, behind only West Brom with 10.

Paul Heckingbottom's side have drawn three of their last four road games - at Stoke City, Plymouth Argyle and local rivals Burnley - and they have the capabilities of frustrating their hosts on Saturday as well.

With three of their four draws this season coming on home soil, including against Cardiff in their most recent Hillsborough clash, Wednesday are no strangers to being held in South Yorkshire, and the draw looks the most likely outcome on Saturday.

Under 2.5 goals - 4/6

Those hoping for a feast of goals in this match may be left disappointed, with four of Preston's last five matches going under 2.5 goals, a run that includes two 0-0 stalemates, while the Lilywhites have failed to score more than once in any of their last seven games across league and cup.

Only second-bottom Queens Park Rangers (15) have scored fewer Championship goals this season than Preston's total of 17, but North End do have the meanest defence of any side in the bottom nine, conceding just 25 times.

That tally is actually better than that of Wednesday, who have let in 27 goals, but their recent matches at Hillsborough have tended to be low scoring, with four of their last five home games seeing the back of the net hit no more than twice.

Recent meetings between these two also tend to be lacking in attacking quality, with just four goals having been scored across the last four clashes, a pattern that could well continue this weekend.

Sam Greenwood over 2.5 shots - 6/4

A low-scoring contest may not be for the want of trying and one player that could have several efforts towards goal on Saturday is Preston's Sam Greenwood.

The on-loan Leeds United midfielder has been thriving in a more attacking role at Preston, with all four of his league goals for the club coming across his last eight games.

That has put Greenwood joint-top of the Preston scoring charts, while only forward Emil Riis Jakobsen has managed more shots than the 22-year-old's total of 24.

Greenwood fired off three shots against West Brom last time out and four in the recent draw with Derby, while he has had two or more efforts, on or off target, in five of his last seven Championship appearances.

While there are no guarantees he will score or even hit the target on Saturday, Greenwood should be able to rack up the shots at Hillsborough.

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Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End odds

Sheffield Wednesday - 10/11
Draw - 9/4
Preston North End - 16/5

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.