Preston North End v Bristol City: TV details, how to watch, team news and form guide

Bristol City continue their travels on the road as they travel to Deepdale to face off against Preston North End on Saturday afternoon (15.00 GMT) in the Sky Bet Championship.

Both sides were in midweek action, City who have been unable to build a consistent run of form, lost 2-1 at Luton Town on Tuesday evening. For the Lilywhites though, they claimed a shock win over promotion chasing West Bromwich Albion, winning 2-0.

Just the two places separate the sides ahead of the fixture this weekend with Preston being three points ahead of City and having a game in hand on the robins as well. If City are to pick up all three points on the road this can see them move level on points with Preston, Blackpool, and Sheffield United and above Milwall if results in other games go their way.

What’s the latest team news for Bristol City?

It isn’t looking promising for City with Pearson still not being able to get his best XI on a consistent basis with injuries causing that problem. City wasn’t able to name a full bench on Tuesday night having named six substitutes instead of seven.

No new injures have been discussed since their game against Luton on Tuesday night and assistant manager Curtis Fleming has said that he doesn’t expect Andy King and Rob Atkinson to be out for too long with the injuries they have, though they will undergo scans.

City have also made the signing of Swiss defender Timm Klose on a deal that will see him play for the Robins until the end of the season. Klose arrives as a free agent with the former Norwich City defender being without a club since August when he got released by the club. He could be go straight into the eleven on Saturday with options at the back being limited.

What’s the latest team news for Preston North End?

Ahead of the fixture, Preston manager Ryan Lowe has said in his press conference that Sean Maguire has had a whack on his ankle and will be assessed today with it looking likely that it’ll be the same squad available that he had available to him on Wednesday night against West Brom.

Preston have also made the recent signing of striker Cameron Archer who joined the club on Monday on loan for the remainder of the season from Premier League side Aston Villa. Archer came on from the bench on Wednesday night to make his debut for the club and went on to score in the 2-0 win over West Brom.

Emil Riis Jakobsen is Preston’s top scorer with him scoring 10 times in 27 games for them so far this season and will look to him for goals. Jakobsen is also joint their joint assist maker with three while being tied with Ben Whiteman, Ryan Ledson, and Daniel Johnson. Johnson however is unavailable due to international duties with Jamaica.

Head-to-head

The two sides have met once already this season at Ashton Gate back in September in a 0-0 draw.

There have been 94 meetings between the two clubs with Preston favouring it more with Bristol City having won 27 Preston winning 34 and 33 draws along the way. The first meeting between the two clubs came all the way back in November 1901 in a 0-0 draw in the old Division Two at the time.

City don’t have the best record of late against Preston having only won once in the last 10 years and not winning at Deepdale since Feburary 2011.

City have had a mixed results of late having won two of their last five matches but have lost the other three. Preston have had better results of late with them losing just one of their last five whilst winning two and the other two ending in draws.

Can I watch the match?

No, the match is scheduled for a 15.00 kick-off which is during England’s blackout hours for broadcast.

How can I watch highlights?

Quest TV will be making an edition of EFL on Quest for this weekend’s fixtures and you will be able to watch the highlights if you tune into Quest just after 21:00.

The goals will then also be available after midnight where they can be found on both clubs YouTube channels