Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End will meet in a Lancashire derby to kick off the action on Friday night in the Championship with both sides eyeing up a spot in the playoffs this season.
Blackburn were knocked out of the EFL Cup round of 16 by Chelsea last midweek, as they lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Nevertheless, they return to the win column after also losing at home to Swansea City, beating Norwich City 3-1 with a brace from Sammie Szmodics and a goal from Tom Dolan.
It moved Rovers to 10th in the league table but with now seven wins and seven losses on the board. In fact, they've also let in 24 goals and scored only 23 of their own, and are about as topsy-turvy as it gets this season.
As for Preston, they are also back to winning ways at Deepdale after drawing their past two games at home to Millwall and Southampton. They also suffered a loss to Hull City in this period but defeated Coventry City 3-2 last time out.
The Lilywhites remain in sixth place as a result, and are only adrift of Leeds United in second by three points. They've also managed to win four games, tie four as well and win seven other matches. They still have a negative goals difference record, however, as they've scored 21 and let in 23.
Sammie Szmodics to score first and Blackburn 3-1 is up at 66/1 in this game and Sammie Szmodics to score 2+ goals is also up to 14/1 - Szmodics is the joint top scorer in the Championship with nine goals and scored two goals in his last league game. Duane Holmes 2+ shots on target is at 4/1 and Holmes has had the most shots on target for Preston with eight. Liam Lindsay to score a header is also boosted to 22/1 and Lindsay has scored 2 headed goals in the league this season.
