Bournemouth take on Preston North End tonight knowing that a win could take them top of the table. Preston North End sit just one place above Rotherham United in 18th, and while they have lost their last two games, they have been scoring lots of goals with 17 so far for the season from their 14 games.
The problem for Preston North End has been in keeping goals out having conceded 21 already. This game will be another good judge of how Bournemouth are doing, compared to Watford who beat Preston 4-1 at Vicarage Road in their last game. Preston also lost 2-1 to Rotherham in early November, so we can perhaps expect it to be a tight game.
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Scott Sinclair and Tom Barkhuizen are Preston's top scorers on five and four goals, respectively. Preston will be without defender Darnell Fisher who was given a three-match ban after violent conduct in the club's match against Sheffield Wednesday. Alex Neil said he was without 10 players from his 25-man squad in the last game. Alan Browne and Joe Rafferty will be available to Preston though as they have completed their suspensions. Ben Pearson and Ben Davies are likely to be starters in defence having been subbed in the second half against Watford just to keep them fresh for the Bournemouth game.
Alex Neil has commented that he believes Bournemouth along with Norwich City and Watford are the three strongest teams in the division. He has no fit full-backs and used five at the back against Watford. But up to 60 minutes against Watford, Preston were very competitive when they were only 2-1 down. Preston gifted Watford goals though and that should mean they find it equally as difficult to defend against Bournemouth. We should keep in mind though that the last game they won away was a 0-3 demolition of Reading in early November and they also beat Brentford 2-4 away in October.
There could be a chance for Jayden Stockley, ex-Bournemouth striker, to feature for Preston North End tonight. He has scored once this season. Jayden was on the bench against Watford and has made two starts this season and came on in the 79th minute against Watford. Jayden has also played for Aberdeen and Exeter City before he joined Preston North End in January 2019.
Bournemouth may well see the return of Arnaut Danjuma and Lewis Cook having missed out at the weekend. Jason Tindall will want to refind some of the goalscoring precision that the team showed against Nottingham Forest and Reading to get the win over Preston North End.
Preston Away Form
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In other news, AFCB drew Oldham Athletic away in the third round of the FA Cup.
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