Preston North End vs Cardiff City Prediction, Preview, Predicted Lineups and Team News | EFL Championship

Preston North End vs Cardiff City Preview

Tournament: EFL Championship

Date: 8 April, 2025

Kick-off Time: 6:45 PM GMT

Venue: Deepdale Stadium, Preston.

The Preston North End vs Cardiff City clash will take place in the EFL Championship on April 8, 2025 at the Deepdale Stadium, Preston. The hosts aim to strengthen their hopes of getting into the top-half of the Championship table, while Cardiff are currently entangled in a relegation battle that they aspire to get out of.

Preston North End are riding on a wave of pretty underwhelming form over the last few weeks. They are in 14th place after 40 games, with 48 points accumulated. They have lost two of their last five matches in the league, and even suffered a damning 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-finals recently. The Lilywhites have actually drawn more games than they have won at home in the Championship this season, having just scored 40 goals in as many league games as well. Despite having 10.4 shot attempts per game, they have only managed 3.4 shots on target in the Championship and aim to improve their shaky home form with a big win over the relegation battles.

For Cardiff City, there is still some scope for them to get out of the Championship relegation race before the campaign comes to an end. The Bluebirds are in 22nd place in the table with 41 points, are only a few points away from safety in the division, but lady luck hasn't really favored the Bluebirds in this campaign.

They have scored 43 goals in 40 league games, more than those in the relegation zone and actually more than teams like Preston! However, they have conceded 63 goals in 40 matches, the second-worst in the league. Cardiff heads into this match with only one win in their last five league games, which includes three straight losses in the league after their loss in the FA Cup to Aston Villa. It'll take a real clinical performance from the Bluebirds to defeat Preston at their home, especially considering they're averaging 1.6 goals conceded per game.

Preston North End Team News

The Lilywhites have sustained a major blow as their goalkeeper Freddie Woodman is now ruled out for the remainder of the 2024/25 season because of an ankle injury. Young full-back Josh Seary is also currently out of action with a knee injury.

Cardiff City Team News

Aaron Ramsey remains an absentee for the Bluebirds after sustaining a hamstring injury. Their captain Joe Ralls is also out of action because of a calf injury, while Anwar El Ghazi (back) and Perry Ng are both doubtful for this trip.

Preston North End vs Cardiff City Predicted Lineups

Preston North End Predicted Lineup (3-5-2):

Goalkeeper: David Cornell

Defenders: Ryan Porteous, Liam Lindsay, Lewis Gibson, Robbie Brady, Jayden Meghoma

Midfielders: Ben Whiteman, Sam Greenwood, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen

Forwards: Milutin Osmajic, Emil Jakobsen

Cardiff City Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Ethan Horvath

Defenders: Andy Rionomhota, Will Fish, Joel Bagan, Callum O'Dowda

Midfielders: Rubin Colwill, Sivert Mannsverk

Forwards: Isaak Davies, Cian Ashford, Will Alves, Yousef Salech

Preston North End vs Cardiff City Head-to-Head record

Preston North End and Cardiff City have faced off against each other on 104 occasions in their history. Out of that, Cardiff have actually won 40 games, with 20 matches result in a draw and Preston having won on 39 occasions. In these two teams' last five meetings, however, Preston North End have won three games and the Bluebirds have only won once.

Key Players to watch in Preston North End vs Cardiff City

Emil Riis Jakobsen (Preston North End)

Emil Riis Jakobsen might have struggled with consistency, but he arguably remains Preston's most dangerous attacking threat right now. The Danish forward has managed to notch up a decent 9.51 xG (expected goals) in the Championship so far in 39 games, and he has overperformed that by scoring 10 goals in that period too.

The 26-year-old has a 16% goal conversion rate so far, something he will be eager to improve against Cardiff City. Jakobsen will look to trouble the visitors with his clever movement and sneak into key goal-scoring areas to improve his goal-scoring form.

Yousef Salech (Cardiff City)

Yousef Salech has made quite a bright impact for the Bluebirds since joining them in the 2025 January transfer window. The 23-year-old striker has scored five goals in just 14 league games for Cardiff City, managing to outperform his 4.83 xG as well!

He is averaging 1.8 shots per game in the league and has uplifted the Bluebirds frontline with his ability to get at the end of moves and trouble defenders with his proactive movement in the final third.

He'll aim to be a menacing factor for the Preston backline with his off-the-ball movement, but needs to be ruthless with his finishing to help his side get away with three points.

Preston North End vs Cardiff City Prediction

Preston North End have had Cardiff City's number in recent games, but it was the Bluebirds who actually defeated them at their own yard in their previous visit. With both teams struggling with inconsistency in recent games, this could actually end up being quite an equal battle between the two sides.

However, Cardiff City's shaky away form this season is a key reason why we are going for Preston North End to get a win. The Lilywhites are gunning for a big win after their FA Cup elimination and should be able to expose their opponents' defensive vulnerabilities to snatch all three points.

Predicted Score: Preston North End 2-1 Cardiff City

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