Huddersfield Town vs Preston North End prediction 12.12.2023

• Competition: Championship
• Date: Tuesday, 12th December 2023
• Kickoff: 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
• Venue: John Smith's Stadium (Huddersfield)

Since getting relegated from the Premier League in the 2018/19 season, Huddersfield have been terrible in the Championship, with only one good year (in 2021/22) when they reached playoffs. In the remaining three seasons, including the last one, they were close to being relegated to League One. This year, the Terriers are once again having a terrible season, considering they are once again around the danger zone. Right now, they are 21st with 21 points in 20 rounds - just two away from the danger zone. However, in the last four games, they have not lost in a pretty tough schedule, and that might be a sign of better days for the Terriers. 

Preston are playing its ninth consecutive season in the Championship, where they were constantly a mid-table team, between 7th and 14th place. This season, Preston had an excellent start, winning six of the league's first seven games, and it finally looked like they could make a step forward and maybe reach the playoffs. But it seems that was only a hot streak because they had very little success in the following games. In the last four games, Preston managed to win only one point while facing mediocre competition. Yes, they are still only one point away from the playoffs, but if something doesn't change soon, the Lilywhites could very soon drop further down on the league's table. 

Huddersfield Town vs Preston pick: Under 2.5 goals

Huddersfield are having massive problems offensively as they scored only 19 goals in 20 rounds - 0.95 per game. The only two teams that have been worse than them are the bottom two teams, Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham. At the start of the season, the Terriers had some success offensively, but lately, they really struggled. In the previous eight matches, they scored only five goals while scoring more than one goal on one occasion. 

Interestingly, Huddersfield's top goalscorer this season is central defender Michal Helik. That is worrisome because it is not sustainable in the long run. Also, according to statistics, Preston has been the third-best team in aerial duels, and that is an additional problem for Huddersfield's offense since they heavily relied on set pieces. 

Preston are on a terrible run with just one point in the previous four games while scoring just one goal! They are in really poor goalscoring form, but considering they are last in xG statistics (0.78) in the league, that is hardly a surprise. 

Considering what we have seen from these teams this season, we believe that an under 2.5 goals bet is the safest option for this match.