Preston v Bolton Betting Preview – Championship 17th November 7.45pm
Preston have to dig deep and find some character from somewhere because their current form has been a bit of a mess, to say the least. After being defensively so strong over the early part of the season, they have fallen apart lately and have slumped to four straight defeats. Bolton are still stuck in the relegation zone but there have been more promising signs from them as the Trotters are eaten in five.
Preston v Bolton Betting Tips
Preston have to find a way to arrest their big slump. They are now on a four match losing streak in the Championship and have failed to win any of their last six. It’s been quite the dramatic decline as well because they had started the season pretty well, losing just one of their opening twelve matches. They took six clean sheets in their opening nine games through a brilliant defensive effort but that has all gone south now because their defence has been all over the place lately. The Lilywhites have shipped at least two goals in each of their last six games now. So they are in a terrible rut at the moment and both teams to score at William Hill should have appeal at a price for 5/6. Preston’s home form reads W3 D3 L2 but those defeats have been in their last two fixtures at Deepdale. That’s a four match winless streak at Deepdale that they are on.
Preston have scored ten goals in their eight home games but they are conceding at a rate of one per game on average now. Still, only 38% of their games at Deepdale have gone over 2.5 goals so this may struggle to get above that goal line. Under 2.5 goals at William hill returns a price of 17/20. Preston are yet to net a goal in the opening fifteen minutes of a home game this season and 60% of their strikes on home soil have happened in the second half of matches. They are missing Jordan Hugill and Sean Maguire who are sidelined which isn’t helping their cause, leaving Tom Barkhuizen as the 2/1 anytime goalscorer favourite for the match. The last time these two met was in the 2015/16 season with Preston collecting four points from the meetings with the Trotters.
While Preston have fallen into a slump, Bolton appears to be coming out of theirs. Not before time either. Bolton failed to win any of their opening nine games of the league season but finally stopped the rot in getting their first win of the season on the boat with a home victory over Sheffield Wednesday in mid October. So after losing nine of their opening eleven matches (D2), they are unbeaten in five now (W2 D3) and they have drawn their last two away games. Those draws have been at Fulham and at Sunderland, with the Black Cats the only side currently beneath them in the Championship table. The trotters were on an eight match scoreless streak in the league earlier in the season, but that have turned that around by scoring in each of their last five. Their defence needs more work with only the one clean sheet this season and in the William Hill correct score market, a 1-1 draw is a short 6/1 option.
Preston v Bolton Betting Odds
Preston 3/4, Draw 11/4, Bolton 10/3
Preston v Bolton Predictions
Draw: The Lilywhites are not value at odds-on at Deepdale at the moment and therefore the really only option is to stick in there for a draw. Bolton haven’t won away this season but have collected a couple of good away draws for themselves recently. The 1-1 draw should have appeal.
