Football – England – League One
Saturday 12th April 2014 – Kickoff: 1507hrs
Fifth placed Preston North End take on relegation threatened Carlisle United at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon as the jostling in the play-off places continues for home advantage for the forthcoming play-off semi-finals.
Preston, already assured of a play-off place will now want to get the best tie possible as they look to navigate their way through the treacherous waters of the play-off lottery and finally get back up into the Championship. They’ve been in solid form in recent weeks having lost just once in their last sixteen matches and at Deepdale they’ve won their last two back-to-back with wins over Peterborough United 3-1 and Crawley Town 1-0.
Preston, along with League One leaders Wolves, have lost just twice at home all season to date and The Lillywhite’s overall home record stands at 9-9-2 30/22 and are unbeaten in their last nine which also includes wins over Port Vale, Notts County and Walsall.
Visitors Carlisle United are perched precariously just above the relegation zone thanks to a slightly better goal difference than Crewe Alexandra who currently occupy the last relegation spot. Carlisle have also tightened their game up in recent weeks as they’ve lost just once in their last five which so far has kept their heads above water – just.
Three draws (Stevenage, Shrewsbury Town and Tranmere Rovers – all 0-0), a loss at Notts County and last Saturday’s win over Swindon Town have been The Cumbrians returns in recent weeks, but they face a difficult trip to Preston this Saturday.
Carlisle’s task isn’t made any easier by the fact that they’ve won just one away match in their last twelve away trips (at Coventry City 2-1), with an overall away record of 3-5-11 14/31. In addition, they’ve kept just four clean sheets in all of their away matches to date, a statistic which could haunt them at Deepdale.
Preston’s solid home form should see them through against the poor-travelling Cumbrians, and with the odds for the straight win being so low, I’ll take Preston to cover the -1 handicap at odds over evens. Preston to win 2-0.
Pick: Preston North End AH-1 @ 2.06 Ladbrokes
