Preston North End head into the game in good form at home, winning their last two league games at Deepdale against both Coventry City and Luton Town.

Frankie McAvoy's men have won three and lost two of their previous five league games, and currently sit in 16th place.

Cardiff City have had an awful start to the season, culminating in Mick McCarthy leaving after eight consecutive losses with the club in 21st position.

Steve Morison has steadied the Bluebirds since coming in, with one win, one loss and one draw in three games placing them in 20th before  he became permanent head coach last week.

That 2-1 victory against Huddersfield Town last time out was their first in eleven attempts, the longest winless streak in the club's history.

  • Team news

Preston North End 

Preston have key midfielder Ben Whiteman suspended after he picked up a fifth booking of the season last time out against Nottingham Forest.

Patrick Bauer, Sean Maguire and Alan Browne all trained this week, and will be in contention for Saturday's game.

Matthew Olosunde and Ched Evans will both be assessed before they are risked to play, after coming back from serious injuries.

Josh Murphy, Izzy Brown and Connor Wickham remain long-term absentees for the Lilywhites.

Cardiff City 

Right-back Tom Sang is back in contention for the trip to Preston after being out of action since September 18 with a toe injury.

Kieron Evans should be fit for the away visit, despite sustaining an injury on international duty with Wales u21's.

Youngster Sam Bowen will not be available due to a foot issue.

  • Predicted lineups

Preston North End (3-5-2)

Iversen; van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Barkhuizen, Browne, Ledson, McCann, Earl; Riis, Maguire.

Cardiff City (3-4-2-1)

Smithies; Flint, Morrison, Nelson; Ng, Ralls, Pack, Giles; Colwill, Harris; Moore

  • Ones to watch

Josh Earl

23-year-old Earl has been with the Lilywhites since the age of nine and made his first team breakthrough in 2017, but has experienced a stop-start few years as he finds his feet in football. Loans to Bolton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Burton Albion have all helped him as a player, with the defender now a permanent fixture in Frankie McAvoy's first choice XI.

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Despite his 6'4 height, Earl is deployed as a left wing-back in North End's 3-5-2 system - with the player himself describing his role as "a lot of freedom". He will hope to extend his stay in the team to 16 games with a starting berth against Cardiff at the weekend.

Kieffer Moore

Championship fans need no introduction to Moore, with the striker scoring 20 goals as the Bluebirds came eighth and pushed for the play-off positions last season. An international with Wales, the 29-year-old scored his first tournament goal in the summer as he helped his country to a 1-1 draw in the Euro 2020 group stage against Switzerland.

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Things have not clicked for Moore this time around, much like the rest of his teammates, but his season has certainly sprung into life in recent weeks. He scored a last ditch brace to end his side's barren run of winless form last time out, after grabbing an equaliser away at Stoke City a week prior. He also notched the opener in Wales' 1-1 draw with Belgium during the international break.

  • Previous meetings

The last game between the teams ended in a 4-0 drubbing of PNE at the hands of a ruthless Cardiff side in February.

Preston have lost their last three league games against Cardiff, their worst winless run against the Bluebirds since losing eight in a row between 1968 and 1972.

Cardiff have won their last two away games at Deepdale, more than their previous 15 meetings combined.

  • How to watch

The game kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Saturday November 19.

Fans in the UK will not be able to watch the game due to the 3pm blackout, although those overseas can check out the respective club websites for live stream information.

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