'Just a question of' - Preston North End's place in EFL expert's predicted table with shock Sunderland tip

Preston North End have been tipped to finish 17th in the Championship next season.

That is the verdict from EFL expert Gabriel Sutton, who assesses the division and gives his 1-24 prediction every summer - for Bet Victor. This time around, Sunderland are a shock call to win the league - while Blackburn Rovers sit bottom in the predicted table.

North End have brought in midfield pair Stefan Thordarson and Sam Greenwood, with club stalwart Alan Browne and last season’s loan star Liam Millar gone. Greg Cunningham and Ben Woodburn have also moved on. Heading into the season, Sutton’s main concern is whether Preston can repeat their efforts in the final third of the pitch.

He said: ‘PNE’s 10th-place finish in 2023-24 looks highly impressive to the outside eye, for a club operating on a bottom six budget. Within the fanbase, however, it felt a little different. The Lilywhites found themselves on the right side of fine margins in the first two months, with six narrow wins in their first seven.

‘Performances didn’t quite merit the 19 points they wrapped up early on. After September’s 2-1 victory over Birmingham, however, Ryan Lowe’s side took 44 points from their remaining 39 games. This, in a season in which they were blatantly nowhere near good enough for the Play-Offs, yet were never at risk of going down because of the return they’d banked early on.

‘And, while a top-10 finish has a great ring to it, they were closer in points to 18th (seven) than the top six (ten) due to a congested midtable. Of course, it’s not Lowe’s fault that circumstances gave his side’s season a slightly flattering complexion, and he deserves credit for consistently delivering highly respectable results since taking charge in December 2021.

‘By the same token, there’s not an awful lot of evidence to suggest that last season’s output is sustainable, having outperformed their xG For of 43.77 (the second-lowest in the Championship) by scoring 56 goals. As such, PNE need to refine their chance creation process, so the club being linked with a cultured wide centre-back like Alfie Gilchrist, on loan from Chelsea, and an attacking wing-back like Ilay Camara of RWD Molenbeek in Belgium, offers some encouragement.

‘With those sorts of additions, there may be the space for #10 Mads Frøkjær and striker Milutin Osmajić to bring more of the respective class and firepower they showed flashes of last season. In terms of confirmed acquisitions, Sam Greenwood joins on loan from Leeds, while Stefán Teitur Þórðarson signs permanently from Silkborg IF – both look decent signings. Greenwood can bring a selfless energy from various attacking roles, while 2023-24 Danish Cup winner Þórðarson is a physical box-to-box man with a thunderous strike.

‘The incoming duo add to a reliable core of goalkeeper Freddie Woodman (if he can recapture his 2022-23 form), dominant middle centre-back Liam Lindsay, steady left centre-back Andrew Hughes, and all-action midfielder Ali McCann, when the latter returns from injury. PNE are starting from a lower base point than last season’s table might imply, though, so a drop-off is probable. It’s just a question of whether the right additions can keep them in midtable.’