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Sheffield Wednesday will take to the field under the guidance of brand new manager Tony Pulis this weekend as they travel to face Preston North End.
Gary Monk was dismissed last week despite helping the Owls to plus-six points after starting the season on minus-12 (albeit with the help of a six-point penalty reduction).
Pulis will face a Preston North End side who have been abysmal at Deepdale this campaign, having failed to claim a point in any of their five home matches.
The Lilywhites sit 14th, five points from the playoffs and six points from the bottom three.
A win for the visitors could see them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Preston North End vs Sheffield Wednesday Head-to-Head
Preston have not lost to Wednesday since December 2018, winning two and drawing one of their three games against them since.
In fact, the last time they suffered defeat on home soil against the Owls was in December 2011 – six Deepdale games ago.
This is set to be the 29th league game between the pair since the turn of the century.
The historical records are almost even too, with Preston winning 44 games and losing on 43 occasions to Saturday’s counterparts. They have drawn 25 times.
Preston North End vs Sheffield Wednesday Team News
Preston goalkeeper Connor Ripley scored a wind-swept goal in the club’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Burnley on Tuesday.
He is set to start on Saturday, though probably not for his goal-scoring abilities.
Injured: Louis Moult
Doubtful: Ben Pearson, Ben Davies
Suspended: None
Chey Dunkley was seen back in training this week although it may be too early to invite him back into the Wednesday squad for this weekend.
The same applies to Dominic Iorfa and Joost van Aken.
Meanwhile, Pulis is anticipated to bring Keiren Westwood into the squad after the goalkeeper was left out of the club’s EFL squad. As a result, a current squad member must give up their place to make room.
However, past experiences indicate that nobody can accurately predict what line-up Pulis chooses in his first game.
Injured: Chey Dunkley, Aden Flint
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Kadeem Harris
Preston North End vs Sheffield Wednesday Predicted XI
Preston North End predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Declan Rudd, Darnell Fisher, Paul Huntington, Jordan Storey, Joe Rafferty, Alan Browne, Ryan Ledson, Brad Potts, Daniel Johnson, Scott Sinclair, Emil Riis Jakobsen
Sheffield Wednesday predicted XI (4-4-2): Joe Wildsmith, Liam Palmer, Dominic Iorfa, Julian Borner, Callum Paterson, Izzy Brown, Barry Bannan, Joel Pelupessy, Adam Reach, Elias Kachunga, Josh Windass.
Preston North End vs Sheffield Wednesday Prediction
Preston just can’t seem to earn a point on home soil and, against a team with a new manager, this may well continue this weekend.
Pulis always likes to stamp his mark on new clubs from day one, and you can be sure there will be a renewed dogged determination about Wednesday on Saturday.
Prediction: Preston North End 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
