The Lilywhites are heading into the match on the back of a goalless draw with Hull City at the weekend, while the hosts secured a thrilling 4-3 win away to Birmingham City last time out.
Follow Us
Preston North End will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to eight games in the EFL Championship when they travel to St. Mary’s Stadium to take on automatic promotion chasing Southampton on Wednesday evening. The Lilywhites are heading into the match on the back of a goalless draw with Hull City at the weekend, while the hosts secured a thrilling 4-3 win away to Birmingham City last time out. The Saints are currently occupying fourth spot in the English second tier standings, having collected 70 points from 35 games, five adrift of the top two, while the visitors are sitting at the eighth position, with 53 points to their name, just three away from the playoffs (top six).
Set for St Mary’s ⚔️
Who’s joining us? 👇
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 5, 2024
Southampton ended their three-game losing run across all competitions courtesy of getting the better of Birmingham in a seven-goal Championship-thriller on Saturday. The Saints secured all three points at St. Andrew’s thanks to one effort each from Adam Armstrong, David Brooks, Che Adams and Joe Aribo. It was Southampton’s 21st league-win of the season. Meanwhile, Russell Martin’s men have lost their last two games at St. Mary’s Stadium, and their home-record in the second tier this season hasn’t been great, collecting 35 points from a possible 51 so far, which is the sixth-best in the division. Nevertheless, the Saints are unbeaten in their last three encounters with Preston, winning their last home-meeting 3-1 back in February 2009.
Preston, on the other hand, have managed to put themselves in a strong position to challenge for a playoff spot courtesy of collection 15 points from their last seven games. The Lilywhites have recorded 15 championship wins this season and their latest success came at Coventry City Stadium towards the end of last month thanks three unanswered goals in the first-half through Emil Riis Jakobsen, Will Keane and Bobby Thomas’ own goal. On Saturday, the Invincibles played out a thrilling 0-0 draw with sixth-placed Hull at Deepdale. Ryan Lowe’s men have now kept three clean sheets from their last five games. Meanwhile, Preston have won only six away-games in the second tier this season, and two of those triumphs have come in their last two outings on the road, against Cardiff and Coventry, with an aggregate scoreline of 5-0.
Southampton probable starting lineup: Bazunu, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek, Manning, Smallbone, Downes, S. Armstrong, Brooks, A. Armstrong, Adams
Preston North End probable starting lineup: Woodman, Storey, Lindsay, Hughes, Browne, Whiteman, McCann, Millar, Frokjaer-Jensen, Riis, Keane
Southampton
| Opponents | Score |
| Birmingham | 3-4 (W) |
| Liverpool | 3-0 (L) |
| Millwall | 1-2 (L) |
| Hull | 1-2 (L) |
| West Brom | 0-2 (W) |
Preston North End
| Opponents | Score |
| Hull | 0-0 (D) |
| Coventry | 0-3 (W) |
| Blackburn | 2-2 (D) |
| Middlesbrough | 2-1 (W) |
| Cardiff | 0-2 (W) |
| Last 5 match-results | Score |
| Preston draw Southampton | 2-2 |
| Southampton beat Preston | 1-3 |
| Southampton beat Preston | 2-1 |
| Southampton beat Preston | 3-1 |
| Southampton beat Preston | 2-3 |
The EFL Championship fixture between Southampton and Preston will take place at St. Mary’s Stadium on Thursday at 1:15 am IST.
| Southampton vs Preston | Key Details |
| Date | Match 6 (UK) |
| Venue | St. Mary’s Stadium |
| Kickoff time in UK | 7:45 pm (Wednesday) |
| Kickoff time in India | 1:15 am (Thursday) |
Football fans in the UK can catch the live action via Sky Go Extra, Sky Sports Red Button and Talksport 2 Radio UK.
More football news:
