Pick of the stats: Preston North End v Southampton

Southampton will seek to close the gap at the top of the Championship table and heap more woe on rock-bottom Preston when they head to Deepdale on Saturday (15:00 GMT). North End are effectively 10 points from safety after 14 games following Tuesday's 3-2 home defeat by Sheffield United and have taken one point from six games under Graham Alexander. Saints are four points off the summit in seventh after a 1-1 draw at West Brom on Tuesday, though it did extend their unbeaten run to six games from which they have taken 14 points. Preston have won just one of their past six league games against Southampton (D1 L4), and are winless in all three at Deepdale in that run (D1 L2). Southampton won this exact fixture 3-1 last season – only once have they won consecutive away league games against Preston, doing so in 1928/1929. Preston have lost 12 of their past 15 league games (W1 D2), while this is the latest into a season (14 games) they've been bottom of the Championship table since 2010-11 (24th after 45 games). After failing to score in their first two league games of 2026, Southampton have now drawn a blank in just one of their past 34 – a goalless draw with Bolton last month. Having been involved in eight goals in his first nine Championship appearances this season (3 goals, 5 assists), Southampton's Finn Azaz hasn't scored or assisted in any of his past five.