Watford vs Preston predictions: Improving Hornets to frustrate visitors

- Watford are unbeaten in three matches under interim boss Tom Cleverley
- The Hornets have gone 10 Championship home games without a win
- Recommended bet: Draw

Preston remain in the hunt for a Championship play-off place but they cannot really afford any further slip ups when they travel to an improving Watford on Saturday.

Ryan Lowe's Lilywhites were beaten 1-0 at relegation strugglers Birmingham on Easter Monday, a result that leaves them eighth, five points off the play-off positions but with a game in hand on sixth-placed Norwich.

Watford's play-off hopes have long since disappeared, but after parting ways with Valerien Ismael last month, the Hornets have taken seven points from the last nine available under interim head coach Tom Cleverley.

Team news

Watford could name an unchanged starting XI following their Easter Monday 2-2 draw at West Brom, although after notching from the bench in that game, leading scorer Mileta Rajovic is pushing for a recall.

Saturday's match is expected to come too soon for the likes of Ken Sema and Jeremy Ngakia.

Preston captain Alan Browne missed the defeat at Birmingham through illness but he is pushing for a recall now, as are Milutin Osmajic and Liam Millar.

However, Brad Potts, Ryan Ledson and Ched Evans are all expected to remain sidelined for the play-off hopefuls.

The stats

After winning just one of their final 12 matches under Ismael, Watford are unbeaten in three with Cleverley at the helm, following up a win at Birmingham with credible draws against Leeds and West Brom.

The Hornets have now drawn 14 matches in the Championship this season, the second-most in the division behind only Huddersfield (16).

Wins have been hard to come by for Watford, particularly on home soil, as they are without a success in 10 league games at Vicarage Road since beating Norwich in late November.

Preston's defeat at Birmingham on Easter Monday ended a four-match unbeaten run on the road for the Lilywhites.

Two of the last three meetings between these two sides have ended all-square, including Preston's most recent visit to Vicarage Road in March 2023.

Watford did win the reverse fixture at Deepdale 5-1 in December, but they have only triumphed in four of their 18 Championship fixtures since then.

Prediction

It has been a difficult second half of the season for Watford, but they have shown signs of life since Cleverley's appointment as interim head coach.

Drawing too many matches has been Watford's problem this season and that has been emphasised in their last two games where they have thrown away leads to share the spoils with both Leeds and West Brom.

Preston do not draw as many matches as their hosts, but they did finish all-square with Watford on their last visit to Vicarage Road and a similarly tight contest appears likely.

With Watford lacking that killer instinct and Preston having not won at the Hornets since 2005, this could prove a match where both teams have to settle for a point.

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