PREVIEW | Preston North End vs Cardiff City - team news, lineups, predictions | OneFootball

Preston North End host Cardiff City this Tuesday at Deepdale in Matchweek 41 of the EFL Championship.

The Lilywhites occupy safe mid-ground territory in the division and have 48 points to their name this season. Last time out, Paul Heckingbottom's team drew 1-1 against a Stoke City side battling to stay out of the relegation places.

Cardiff, meanwhile, are fully submerged in the drop zone and need results to stave off League One. The Welsh side currently sit 22nd and manager Omer Riza will know that ultimately wins rather than draws (like their 0-0 with QPR last weekend) are needed.

The last meeting between the two teams ended with Preston winning the day, the Lilywhites chalking up a 2-0 victory.

The Fan Zone

Martin Ryan (PNEFC_Stats): A third game in a row against a team battling to beat the drop as Cardiff head to Deepdale.

Paul Heckingbottom will be looking for an improvement after a disappointing performance at the weekend vs Stoke.

With each team only winning 2 of their last 10, Preston having 11 home draws this season and Cardiff 10 away draws the smart money could well be on another draw here.

Andrew Hughes is managing an hernia problem but could return to the squad to play. Ali McCann and Brad Potts are likely to continue to miss out once again through injury.

Prediction: 1-0

Tomas Taylor (Sports Addict Corner): The six remaining games are the biggest of Cardiff’s season, and perhaps the biggest in the club’s recent history. What worries me about this run-in, however, is how deflated the team looks and the lack of urgency. We only had two shots on target all game on the weekend, and it took until after the 70th minute to get out first. Given the number of first-team players that were out for QPR and how massive the game was, this feels like a missed opportunity to get a much-needed win. Whilst that’s three games unbeaten, the performances are a red flag. We’ve gone on a couple of mini unbeaten runs throughout the season which are followed by a few strings of losses and dropped points, and I worry that the last three games might have been our last unbeaten run of the season.

I’m usually optimistic with games like this and like to think that the team will be able to step up to the plate given the enormity of the occasion, but this time it feels different. There’s still no sign of Omer Riza settling on a best starting eleven, and whilst we’ve got great players it feels like we’ve accepted that we have to rely on moments of magic from the likes of Callum Robinson, Yousef Salech, or Isaak Davies to get us results. Any sort of threat from set pieces have dried up, and I’m not confident that drawing games from here on in will be enough to keep us up. The cracks have been there all season, and the Luton game at home where we lost 2-1 after leading was a bit of a turning point for me in where I think this season could go. Given how poor we are away and how consistent Preston are at Deepdale, I unfortunately can’t see anything here but a Cardiff loss.

Prediction: 2-0

Predicted lineups

Preston North End: Dai Cornell, Jordan Storey, Lewis Gibson, Andrew Hughes, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Stefán Thórdarson, Benjamin Whiteman, Jayden Meghoma, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen, Emil Riis, Sam Greenwood

Cardiff City: Ethan Horvath, Andy Rinomhota, Jesper Daland, Will Fish, Callum O'Dowda, Sivert Mannsverk, David Turnbull, Rubin Colwill, Will Alves, Callum Robinson, Isaak Davies

Unavailable

Preston North End

Cardiff City

Last starting XIs

Preston North End ( vs Stoke City 2025-04-05): Dai Cornell, Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay, Lewis Gibson, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Benjamin Whiteman, Robbie Brady, Sam Greenwood, Stefán Thórdarson, Emil Riis, Milutin Osmajic

Cardiff City ( vs QPR 2025-04-05): Ethan Horvath, Andy Rinomhota, Will Fish, Joel Bagan, Callum O´Dowda, Sivert Mannsverk, Rubin Colwill, Isaak Davies, Cian Ashford, Will Alves, Yousef Salech