Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End kick-start the return of the EFL Championship as they lock horns at Ewood Park on Saturday.The Riversiders picked up successive friendly victories over Hearts and Ajax during the World Cup break and will be looking to keep the ball rolling.Blackburn Rovers@Rovers🤕 Jon Dahl Tomasson has revealed that Harry Pickering will sit out this weekend's home clash against Preston North End.More team news #Rovers rovers.co.uk/news/2022/dece…13🤕 Jon Dahl Tomasson has revealed that Harry Pickering will sit out this weekend's home clash against Preston North End.More team news ⬇️#Rovers 🔵⚪️rovers.co.uk/news/2022/dece…Midway through the 2022-23 EFL Championship campaign, Blackburn Rovers are well on course to secure a place in the playoffs or even secure automatic promotion.The Riversiders have won five of their last seven league outings and are currently third in the standings, two points off second-placed Sheffield United, who have picked up 36 points from 21 matches.Blackburn Rovers head into the weekend off the back of successive friendly victories over Hearts and Ajax and will be looking to build on those results.Blackburn Rovers@Rovers🗳️ With a whopping 84% of the vote, you selected @David8Dunn as your number in the Blackburn Rovers #SquadventCalendar! #Rovers twitter.com/Rovers/status/…Blackburn Rovers@Rovers🗳️ Place your vote...181🗳️ Place your vote...🗳️ With a whopping 84% of the vote, you selected @David8Dunn as your number 8⃣ in the Blackburn Rovers #SquadventCalendar! 👏#Rovers 🔵⚪️ twitter.com/Rovers/status/… https://t.co/6pR2IGry8UMeanwhile, Preston North End were last in action on November 12 when they were beaten 4-2 by Millwall on home turf.Prior to that, they were on a run of three consecutive victories, seeing off Middlesbrough, Swansea City and Reading respectively.With 31 points from 21 games, Preston North End are currently ninth in the EFL Championship table, but could potentially rise as high as fourth place with all three points this weekend.$1000 No Sweat First Bet on FanDuelBlackburn Rovers vs Preston North End Head-To-Head and Key NumbersWith 45 wins from the last 109 meetings between the sides, Preston North End boast a superior record in the history of this fixture.Blackburn Rovers have picked up 34 wins in that time, while the spoils have been shared on 30 different occasions.Preston North End are unbeaten in five of their last six visits to Ewood Park since April 2016, claiming three wins and two draws in that time.Blackburn Rovers@Rovers Supporters attending Saturday's game against @pnefc are advised that due to very limited availability on the stadium car parks, alternative travel plans should be arranged.#Rovers 4🚗 Supporters attending Saturday's game against @pnefc are advised that due to very limited availability on the stadium car parks, alternative travel plans should be arranged.#Rovers 🔵⚪️ https://t.co/asAaYsBCdEBlackburn head into the weekend on a run of four wins from their last five matches across all competitions, with a 3-0 loss to Burnley on November 13 being the exception.Preston North End boast the league’s second-best away record this season after picking up 18 points from their 10 home matches.Blackburn Rovers vs Preston North End PredictionBlackburn and Preston will battle in the Championship for the first time in four weeks and we expect both sides to take the game to each other in search of all three points. Preston North End have enjoyed a solid run of results at Ewood Park and we are backing them to hold out for a share of the spoils.Prediction: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Preston North EndBet $5 Win $150 if your team wins on DraftKingsBlackburn Rovers vs Preston North End Betting TipsTip 1: Result - DrawTip 2: Both sides to score - Yes (Both sides have scored in four of Blackburn Rovers’ last five matches)Tip 3: Less than 10.5 corners - Yes (There have been fewer than 11 corner kicks in four of the last five meetings between Blackburn and Preston North End)