Preston have taken points from every game this season despite only having 1 win, and current sit 11th in League One with 7pts. Oldham are looking to end this 5-game points run, overcoming a key head-to-head stat. However, both teams are plagued with missing players.
Oldham are to make the 45 minute journey to Deepdale on Monday 9th September to attempt and overturn Preston’s points record this season. Despite being unbeaten, Preston are only 3 places ahead in 11th, mid-division of League One. Oldham are looking to overturn a stat dating back to 2011, in which head-to-heads have resulted in a Home Win or a Draw – the away team have never took 3pts since Preston won away in 1999.
However, both teams will struggle with key players being away due to injury or international duty. For Preston, their top scorer Chris Humphrey will be playing with the Jamaican national side, whilst Iain Hume is also on international duty. Jack King does not return from injury for the match either. 3 Oldham players: Joksts, Winchester and Millar are also playing internationally. This leaves Preston at much more of a disadvantage than Oldham, despite showing promise when drawing with Coventry (placed 6th on the form guide).
Whilst this will clearly be a tough Monday night game, I feel Preston have the momentum to push to take the 3pts, despite the loss of their top scorer for this game. Over 5 games, Preston have scored on average 1.8 goals and conceded 1.2 goals; Oldham have scored 1.6, and conceded 1.6. Whilst this could suggest a competitive match, Preston really do have the ability to win at a generous Evens (WilliamHill, BetVictor). Preston have taken points from their last 9 matches, going back to last season, but the double-chance is 1/4 allround and doesn’t show value. Furthermore, Preston have 3 clean-sheets this season, joint top with the impressive Leyton Orient and MK Dons, which bodes well for a win.
If this is competitive, I would expect goals with Oldham scoring as many as they concede, and Preston scoring at a ratio of 3:2. The market doesn’t quite agree, but over 2.5 goals is Evens (Betfair). We consider a score-draw or home win to be the most likely outcome, so this seems like a good priced over’s bet for us. In the last 4 meetings, the average goals scored is 3.5, with only 1 being under 2.5. Therefore, if history repeats, we should be happy.
With Humprey out of the game and Preston expected to score, Byrom could be an unlikely scorer having only started once in a lineup this season, and being subbed in once for a total playing time of 98 minutes. However, having already scored 2 goals, value is represented by Byrom at 8/1 anytime goalscorer (ToteSport, Betfred).
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Watch live on Sky Sports, 19:45, Monday 9th September 2013.
See our last betting preview, Coventry v Colchester, here. We got the winning team correct at 5/6, The the anytime goalscorer at 13/10, and the brace scorer at 13/2.
