Preston North End vs Middlesbrough Betting Tips

Preston North End managed to secure promotion from League One last season thanks to an impressive 4-0 victory over Swindon Town in the playoff final.

This was most definitely a just result for the all important playoffs. They finished in 3^rd place in League One and had a 10 point lead over 4^th position, only missing out on automatic promotion by 2 points.

They have made sure their squad is fully fit in preparation for the difficult first season after promotion, playing 8 friendly games since the middle of July.

They have won 5 of these games, but suffered defeat against Carlisle United and Bury, drawing their first friendly of the summer against Chorley.

They have also brought in some reinforcements to help them stay in the Championship, bringing in Jermaine Beckford and Paul Gallagher from Bolton and Leicester respectively, and Will Keane on loan from Manchester United.

Middlesbrough’s spending has been quite a bit greater than Preston’s in the transfer market, with old favourite Stewart Downing returning for £5.5 million. Alex Baptiste has also been brought in, along with Chelsea loanee Tomas Kalas.

Middlesbrough will be hoping that these signings spur them on to achieve promotion next year after they fell at the last hurdle last season.

They finished last campaign in 4^th position, then beat Brentford 5-1 on aggregate in the playoff semi final. But 3^rd place Norwich beat them 2-0 at Wembley to resign them to another season in the Championship.

Middlesbrough have only played 4 friendly games in preparation for the coming season, but they have been impressive in them. They have won 3 out of the 4 matches, drawing the remaining game and not conceding a single goal all summer.

I think Middlesbrough will kick their campaign off with a win against the promotion winners, and odds of 11/8 for an away win look very good value.