Southampton don secure play-off place for Championship and now dem want to go into the extra end-of-season games with momentum by beating mid-table Preston on the final day of regular season on Saturday.
Saints bin dey close to stunning FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City last weekend when dem take lead at Wembley for second half, only for Premier League giants to recover for later stages.
However, e still be fine second half of season for south coast club, wey don give themselves chance to go straight back up to Premier League through play-offs thanks to impressive run of form for second tier.
Midweek draw at Ipswich confirm their place for top six, while PNE for contrast don dey labour to mid-table finish for past few weeks.
Jamal Lewis, Callum Lang and Ali McCann all still out for Preston. For Southampton, Jack Stephens no likely to feature, but e fit be fit for play-offs, while Kuryu Matsuki be major doubt. Alex McCarthy and Mads Roerslev remain out long-term for Saints.
Preston don lose two of their last three games and North End don win only one of their last six at Deepdale. Southampton don only lose two league games for 2026 – both for January. Between January 21 and midweek draw at Ipswich, Saints win 14 times for Championship.
Seven places (5th-12th) and 17 points (77-60) separate di two teams for table going into final weekend. Preston win di reverse fixture at St Mary's for November 2-0.
Southampton season fit still end on glorious high with promotion back to Premier League through play-offs and dem don enjoy highly satisfactory 2026 so far, even though dem bin finally knock out of FA Cup by Manchester City last weekend.
Tonda Eckert side don be one of di form teams across whole professional pyramid since turn of year and dem suppose end regular season with comfortable win at Deepdale. From dere, dem fit take more momentum into end-of-season games as dem eye top-flight return.
Preston, on di other hand, don do more than enough to stay up but any promotion bid fizzle out several weeks ago and dem must soon rest and reassess dia aims and ambitions for yet another Championship season to come.
Dia home form don be concern lately – Paul Heckingbottom side don win only one of dia last six games on dia own patch – and dem no look capable of stopping Southampton side wey go want to maintain dia high standards well into May.
Due to dia alarming consistency issues – failing to win back-to-back Championship matches since January 4 – Preston North End guarantee to compete for second tier of English football for 12th straight time next season.
Consecutive defeats to West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City recently contain all hallmarks of Lilywhites team wey already dey on metaphorical beach, however, Paul Heckingbottom men produce excellent display at Bramall Lane last weekend.
Helping di Lancashire outfit to claim dia 15th second-tier victory of di term, centre-back Liam Lindsay bag im first-ever brace for Preston inside di opening 20 minutes at Sheffield United, with di visitors eventually winning 3-2 for Yorkshire.
Breaching di net of Bladesman Adam Davies during di second period, Aston Villa loanee Lewis Dobbin don find im Championship home with di Lilywhites after difficult spells at West Brom and Norwich City, providing 17 goal contributions across 38 appearances dis term.
To di disgruntlement of di Deepdale faithful, Preston don claim maximum points from only one of dia past six second-tier home matches (D2 L3), with Saturday hosts winning only three of dia 13 home fixtures for 2026.
Despite dey for midst of staggering 18-game unbeaten league streak (W13 D5) – di third-longest run for club history – Southampton likely to feel slightly disappointed ahead of dis weekend trip to Deepdale.
Di Saints bin pip to FA Cup final by Manchester City for dia final-four encounter at Wembley Stadium last weekend, and three days later Tonda Eckert side only manage league draw with Southampton, ending hopes of automatic promotion to Premier League.
Tumbling towards di final match of regular season, Southampton know say Championship playoff semi-final dey await dem later for May, while di Tractor Boys and surprise package Millwall fight for second spot on Saturday.
Since losing second-tier expert Adam Armstrong to Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers over di winter, di Saints don lean heavily on di attacking abilities of Finn Azaz, with di Birmingham-born forward scoring against di Citizens at Wembley last weekend.
Only champions Coventry City (55) and Ipswich (47) don collect more than Southampton 44 home points for 2025-26, with di South Coast club enjoying 11-match unbeaten sequence at St Mary’s Stadium.
Signed to fuel Preston playoff-chasing ambitions, Callum Lang don manage only five appearances because of ankle and hamstring injuries. Sidelined since beginning of April, 2018-19 Championship winner Jamal Lewis (thigh) go dey unavailable on di final day.
A key part of di Lilywhites engine room over di past five seasons, Ali McCann dey nurse ankle problem at di moment.
Southampton boss Eckert hope say defender Jack Stephens go dey available for di playoffs after picking up calf problem. Battling im own calf-related issue, Kuryu Matsuki no feature against Ipswich at St Mary’s on Tuesday night.
Long-term absentees for di Saints persist for form of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (wrist) and midfielder Mads Roerslev (knee).
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