Nottingham Forest and Preston North End look to end their underwhelming campaigns on a positive note as they square-off at the City Ground this Saturday afternoon.
Forest currently occupy the 16th spot on the Championship table, but could fall to as low as the 20th position if they lose on the final day.
Preston North End have played some very decent football at times, but have struggled to find any sort of consistency. They're currently 13th, four points ahead of their next opponents.
Nottingham Forest vs Preston North End Head-to-Head
The head-to-head record favors the visitors, with Preston North End picking up 42 wins from 106 previous meetings. Nottingham Forest have won 33 of those matches, while the remaining 31 have been drawn.
Forest won the reverse fixture back in January 2020 by a 1-0 score line.
Nottingham Forest form guide: D-D-D-L-D
Preston North End form guide: W-W-W-D-L
Nottingham Forest vs Preston North End Team News
Nottingham Forest
Forest will be without Samba Sow, Harry Arter, Tobias Figueiredo and Luke Freeman for this game due to injury. Sammy Ameobi is doubtful to start.
Filip Krovinovic may start out wide again as Chris Hughton continues to experiment with his squad with an eye on the upcoming season.
Lewis Grabban, the matchwinner the last time the two teams met, is expected to start through the middle once again.
Injuries: Samba Sow, Harry Arter, Tobias Figueiredo, Luke Freeman
Doubtful: Sammy Ameobi
Suspensions: None
Preston North End
Preston North End will have to do without the services of Patrick Bauer, Daniel Johnson and Declan Rudd owing to injury.
Since their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Brentford, the Lilywhites have picked up 10 points from a possible 12. Frankie McAvoy will likely stick with most of his players who have now picked up four cleansheets in a row.
Injuries: Patrick Bauer, Daniel Johnson, Declan Rudd
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None
Nottingham Forest vs Preston North End Predicted XI
Nottingham Forest Predicted XI (4-3-3): Brice Samba; Yuri Ribeiro, Scott McKenna, Joe Worrall, Cyrus Christie; Cafú, Ryan Yates, James Garner; Anthony Knockaert, Lewis Grabban, Filip Krovinović
Preston North End Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Daniel Iversen; Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay, Andrew Hughes; Sepp van den Berg, Ryan Ledson, Ben Whiteman, Tom Barkhuizen; Alan Browne; Ched Evans, Sean Maguire
Nottingham Forest vs Preston North End prediction
Nottingham Forest know that a loss could make their season look a lot worse than it was. Both teams will step onto the pitch to express themselves and give their fans something to cheer about on the last day of the season. It should be an end-to-end affair that in-form Preston may end up knicking.
Final Verdict: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Preston North End.
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