- 1 Preston North End vs Sheffield United: the division’s bottom side against 10 points from five
- 2 Preston North End: one point under Alexander and no league win in nearly two months
- 3 Sheffield United: three clean sheets in five league games, but Kitching is suspended
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Preston North End vs Sheffield United
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Preston North End vs Sheffield United: the division’s bottom side against 10 points from five 
Preston North End have scored 10 goals in 13 Championship matches this season, fewer than any other side in the division, and conceded 27, more than anyone else. Those two numbers explain why they’re bottom of the table and six points from safety going into Tuesday’s game at Deepdale.
Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United have taken 10 points from their last five league matches and sit 10th, three points off the play-off places, after Ben Brereton Díaz scored the only goal against Wrexham on Friday night.
Kick-off is at 19:45 UK time on Tuesday 3 November. Graham Alexander has had two league games in charge of Preston so far: a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on 24 October and Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.
Last season’s head-to-head is the one thing that complicates the picture. Preston beat Sheffield United twice, 3-2 at Deepdale in October 2025 and 3-2 again at Bramall Lane in April 2026, and that came after they’d failed to win any of the previous eight meetings.
Over the longer run the record favours the visitors, who have won 15 of the 31 meetings in the database against Preston’s eight, with eight draws. Sheffield United have kept a clean sheet in 42% of those games.
The prices follow current form rather than last season’s results: Sheffield United are around 2.23 to win, the draw 3.50 and Preston 3.07. My view is that the 10 goals in 13 games tell us more about Tuesday than two wins from a different campaign.
Preston North End: one point under Alexander and no league win in nearly two months 
Preston haven’t won a Championship match in nearly two months. Since a 2-2 draw at QPR on 19 September, they’ve lost 1-0 at home to Millwall on 10 October, 4-0 at Birmingham City three days later and 4-1 at Wrexham on 17 October.
Alexander’s first game, the draw with West Brom, brought a point, but the defeat at Stoke left Preston with four losses from their last five league games and a single league win all season.
Over their last ten matches in all competitions Preston have averaged 0.80 goals per game and failed to score in 40% of them, and they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of those ten.
Preston’s expected goals against splits sharply by venue, at 1.44 per game at Deepdale and 2.17 on the road, and both teams have scored in 60% of their recent matches, so the home side’s best nights have still tended to involve conceding.
At Deepdale the numbers improve slightly without changing the picture. Their last five home games produced one win, they conceded 1.40 a game in that run, and they created 1.45 expected goals per match, which suggests the chances exist but aren’t being taken.
Johnny Kenny is expected to lead the line, with Lang and Burgzorg either side of him. Thierry Small could start after replacing Brad Potts at half-time at Stoke, and Iversen keeps goal behind a back three of Offiah, Storey and Hughes.
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Sheffield United: three clean sheets in five league games, but Kitching is suspended 
Sheffield United’s last five league matches produced three wins, all of them without conceding: 3-0 at home to Lincoln City on 10 October, 1-0 at Bristol City on 17 October and 1-0 against Wrexham on Friday. In between came a 3-2 defeat at Portsmouth and a 1-1 home draw with Derby County.
The Wrexham win cost Wilder a centre-back: Liam Kitching picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and is suspended, while Tahith Chong and Romelle Donovan were both forced off and will need to be assessed before Tuesday.
Losing Kitching matters because he’s been part of the back line behind those clean sheets. Wilder’s probable defence has Choudhury, Tanganga, McGuinness and Burrows in front of Cooper, so the shape stays the same with a different centre-back pairing.
Brereton Díaz’s winner against Wrexham was his first league goal of the season. He’s expected to start up front with Ayew, and Cannon, Peck, Phillips and Campbell are likely across midfield.
Away from Bramall Lane Sheffield United have been less consistent. Their last five away games in all competitions brought two wins and three defeats, including a 2-1 loss at Stoke on 19 September, and they’ve conceded 1.40 a game on the road across their last ten matches.
Sheffield United still tend to score on their travels, though: they failed to score in only 20% of their last ten games, home or away, and their 1.18 expected goals per away match is comfortably above anything Preston have been producing at the other end.
Probable lineup Preston North End: Iversen; Offiah, Storey, Hughes; Small, Thompson, Leroy, Vukcevic; Lang, Kenny, Burgzorg
Probable lineup Sheffield United: Cooper; Choudhury, Tanganga, McGuinness, Burrows; Cannon, Peck, Phillips, Campbell; Ayew, Brereton Díaz
Free Football Prediction: Preston North End vs Sheffield United
Our prediction: Sheffield United to win (2.23)
The gap in goalscoring decides it. Preston have 10 league goals in 13 games, have failed to score in 40% of their recent matches and haven’t kept a clean sheet in ten, while Sheffield United have kept three in their last five league games and won all three of those matches.
Kitching’s suspension and the knocks to Chong and Donovan are a fair argument for caution, and last season’s two 3-2 Preston wins show this fixture can get away from Wilder’s side. Those results came against a Preston team that wasn’t bottom of the league, though, and the current one has won once in the Championship all season.
I’d back the away win at 2.23, even at Deepdale. Preston’s home attack creates enough to make it uncomfortable at times, but a side averaging 0.80 goals a game needs a lot to go right against opponents who haven’t conceded in any of their last three league wins.
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