Preston to keep playoff hopes alive
Three points separate Preston North End and the Championship playoffs. The club has just nine points to play for this term, and Preston will need to secure all nine, if the club wants to make the postseason.
Even if Preston win all nine points, making the promotion playoffs still won't be guaranteed. At the very least, the club must win against Norwich on Saturday.
While Preston hope to make the playoffs, Norwich will return to the Championship next term. The Canaries are 10 points behind Preston and 13 points off of the playoffs. Norwich have been a difficult team to figure out this term. The club peaked in week 13 as it reached sixth place. However, since then, Daniel Farke's side has drifted into midtable obscurity. A strong finish could help propel the side to better things next term but gaining three points against Preston won't be easy.
Norwich's last match saw the team give up two goals in the last five minutes against Cardiff. The Canaries turned a sure draw into a late-game loss. Norwich now travel to Deepdale having conceded 30 goals and posting a –7-goal difference. The good news is Preston haven't been great at home, securing just 31 points while registering a +4-goal difference. The biggest factor, however, could be Norwich having nothing to play for but pride.
Several players are already set to depart the club as contracts will expire. Therefore, the incentive for players to prove themselves for next term is out the window. Norwich will go into a second straight offseason as a club re-building. The club's Premier League days and high-spending are behind them, and like last summer, Norwich will see some of it top earners leave the club as it re-builds with youth and cheaper Championship veterans.
Preston will have leading goal scorer Sean Maguire back fit. The striker has suffered a start and stop season due to injury. Despite starting just 17 games and coming off the bench in four more, Maguire has scored 10 goals. Darnell Fisher and Daniel Johnson are also fit for Alex Neil, and the Rams should be healthy for Norwich's visit.
Preston have a chance to make the playoffs and with the teams in front of them – Derby, Millwall and Middlesbrough – all have matches against top seven clubs, Preston could close the gap on the playoff places. The best the Rams can do is move up to seventh, but it would put them level on points with fifth-place Middlesbrough and sixth-place Millwall, if results go Preston's way.
Most importantly, Preston need to win, and they will do so against Norwich. Due to Norwich have no incentives to win this fixture, Preston will ease to a win.
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