Preston vs Derby: Lineups, Predictions & Betting Tips

Preston vs Derby: Lineups, Predictions & Betting Tips

Match Details: January 17 2026 | Deepdale | Championship - Round 27 | 15:00 GMT

On Saturday we see 2 teams face with one of them looking for all 3 points to push themselves up in the table and keep their hopes for promotion alive. Preston who currently sit in 4th place will be hoping for all 3 points so that they can make their claim for the promotion’s spots even more certain, they could also push themselves into those top 2 spots in automatic promotion. Derby, however, don’t have as much to play for as they currently sit 11 points clear of the relegation zone and 6 points away from 6th, however, with a win they can make that push for the promotion spot in the second half of the season. Our advanced algorithm has predicted that this game will end in a 1-1 draw.

Key Betting Tip: both teams to score in this game at 2.00 – this represents excellent value based on tips provided to us by our team of in-house tipsters.

Preston vs Derby Predicted Lineups

Preston Predicted Lineup (3-4-3): Iversen, Storey, Lindsay, Gibson, Valentin, Thompson, McCann, Small, Frokjaer-Jensen, Jebbison, Dobbin

Derby Predicted Lineup (4-4-1-1): Zetterstrom, Forsyth, Batth, Langas, Ward, Blackett-Taylor, Fraulo, Travis, Brereton Diaz, Clark, Salvesen

Previous 5 Preston vs Derby Head-to-Head

Derby 0-1 Preston Derby 2-0 Preston Preston 1-1 Derby Derby 1-0 Preston Preston 0-0 Derby

In recent times Preston has struggled against Derby having only managed to win a single game in the last 5 meetings and that was the last time these 2 met. They will be hoping that with they’re better league position they can use that confidence to push themselves forward and add yet another win to their record against Derby. The main issue that they have found is scoring against Derby having only managed to score 2 goals in the last 5 matches, this will be something that could knock confidence going into this match as they have struggled going forward in the previous matches, they will need to fix this to have any chance of getting a result.

Derby has been the stronger team in the last few meetings between these 2 sides having won 2 and only lost 1 in the last 5 meetings. They will be hoping that they can add another one and push themselves into a late promotion battle. They will be going into this game with the higher confidence having kept 3 clean sheets in the last 5 matches and having scored in 3 out of the 5 of the last matches.

Last 5 Preston and Derby Match Analysis

Last 5 Preston Matches: Stoke 0-0 Preston (A) Championship Wrexham 2-1 Preston (A) Championship Preston 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday (H) Championship Bristol City 0-2 Preston (A) Championship Preston 0-1 Wigan (H) FA Cup

Some okay form for Preston in the last 5 matches winning 2 losing 2 and drawing 1, they would’ve hoped for better to push themselves truly into those top 6 spots. While they managed to build some confidence in the last 5 matches having won 2 games in a row by 2 or more goals while keeping a clean sheet, all that confidence would’ve been knocked after losing in the FA Cup to a team that sits in the division below them. While the FA Cup wouldn’t be their main focus as they sit in the promotion playoffs spot, they would’ve hoped for a better run then what they had in the cup so their confidence might have gone down especially after failing to make 1 xG in that match. Their main issue has come from scoring as while they have scored 6 goals in the last 5 matches, 5 of them came from just 2 games meaning in the other 3 they only scored a single goal, they will need to try and fix this to make sure they can get a top 6 finish and have a chance of playing Premier League football next year.

Last 5 Derby Matches: Birmingham City 1-1 Derby (A) Championship Leicester City 2-1 Derby (A) Championship Derby 1-0 Middlesbrough (H) Championship Derby 1-2 Wrexham (H) Championship Derby 1-3 Leeds United (H) FA Cup

Only 1 win in the last 5 matches isn’t something Derby would’ve wanted to go into the new year and starting off the new year. While their 1 win was a strong win against Middlesbrough who sit second in the league, they have gone on to lose against teams who sit near them in the league after that game. Their main issue has come from their defence. They have only managed to keep a single clean sheet in the last 5 matches and conceded 8 in the other 4 games. While 3 of them came against Premier League side Leeds, that still means that 5 came from 3 games against teams in their league. While there are many clear negatives in recent matches for Derby, one positive comes from the attack as they have managed to score in every game that they have played in the last 5 and they will be hoping that they can keep this going in this match to help them pick up at least a point.

Preston vs Derby Predictions

Our advanced algorithm has analysed over 200 pieces of data and predicted with a 63.30% confidence that both teams will score in this match. The key factors that have allowed this are players available current form, previous head-to-head and tactical matchups.

Best Preston vs Derby Betting Tip

Football Park’s Best Bet: both teams to score in this game @ 2.00 odds. This is based on tips provided by our team of in-house tipsters as a result of Derby’s attacking from and Preston’s superior form recently.

Key Players to Watch: Preston vs Derby

Lewis Dobbin (Preston): Having already picked up 11 goal contributions in 20 games so far, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Dobbin pick up yet another contribution this game. Having over performed both his xG and xA, he will be someone who can create something from nothing and cause many issues for Derby’s poor defence. With an average of an assist every 4 chances created and goal every 2 shots on target, he will be someone who will cause issues this game and will be very likely to add another contribution to his tally.

Jacob Widell Zetterstrom (Derby): The keeper has been very solid this season for Derby and has been part of the reason why they can still have a late charge for the promotions spots this half in the season. He has managed to keep 5 clean sheets this season and prevented 3.54 goals so far this season. With an average of 3 saves per game he will be someone they can look to; to keep the game close and with his 212 long balls, he can start a counterattack very quickly to transition from defence to attack as quick as possible.

 Preston vs Derby Match Facts

Referee: Farai Hallam Stadium Details: Deepdale capacity 23,408 surface grass