Preview: Sheffield Wednesday vs Preston North End – prediction, team news, fixtures

Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End will continue their preparations ahead of the 2026-27 term on Saturday, when they meet at the top of the friendly.

Preston North End started their pre-season with a win on Tuesday, while their opponents have managed a defeat and a draw so far.

Game preview

Sheffield Wednesday return to Saturday’s friendly in search of a first win of pre-season as they prepare to restart in League One.

They endured a poor campaign in England’s second tier last time out, finishing with 0 points against an 18-point deficit with just two wins and 32 defeats.

Those deductions came as a result of financial problems and the club’s eventual entry into administration in late 2025, but the feeling coming out of the bitter campaign was one of hope after the completion of the takeover and exit from management.

David Storch, the new owner of the Owls in the US-consortium, attended their last game of the season at Hillsborough, where he got his first home win of the campaign and ensured that the expected points deduction in the upcoming League One campaign will be no more.

Having now started pre-season with a 3-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion and a friendly draw with eighth-placed local side Hallam while playing with a smaller side, Sheffield Wednesday will now look for a win to boost their hopes ahead of the campaign and what is already encouraging summer business.

Their opponents are facing a tough league for the first time in the pre-season as they prepare for another season of the Championship.

2025-26 saw Preston North End improve on a difficult previous season and finish 14th in England’s second division under Paul Heckingbottom with 60 points.

That left them two outside the top half and four points out of the top ten, although 15 teams scored more than 55 goals and 15 conceded less than the 62 they allowed.

Now looking to start their third season under Heckingbottom, they started pre-season against seventh-placed Bamber Bridge this week and ran out 4-1 winners with Milutin Osmajic, Jordan Storey, Lewis Gibson and Ben Whiteman.

Now on the back of their first run, Preston North End will look to up the ante in a tough friendly on Saturday as they prepare for the start of their second division 12 campaign in a row.

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Team News

© Imago / IMAGO / Sports Press Photo

Sheffield Wednesday fielded two different XIs for last week’s friendly against West Bromwich Albion, and after a small squad faced Hallam in midweek, Henrik Pedersen could be a step closer to fielding a full-strength squad for Saturday’s game.

The Owls have improved on last season’s thin and inexperienced squad this summer, with Ricardo Santos, Sil Swinkels, Callum Slattery, Jordi Liongola, Harry Gray, Louie Barry and returning star Barry Bannan all coming in and competing for starting places this season.

Joe Lumley, who played two emergency loan matches last term, has arrived and could take up the gloves following the departure of Pierce Charles from Manchester City.

Paul Heckingbottom also fielded different Preston North End XIs for each half of their pre-season opener at Bamber Bridge, as key men such as Ben Whiteman, Jordan Storey, Andrew Hughes, Odel Offiah and Alfie Devine all played 45 minutes.

Devine has been a key ingredient of the summer, with last season’s loanee leaving Tottenham Hotspur on a permanent basis, while Jusef Erabi has arrived on loan from Genk and could make his first appearance at his new club at the weekend.

Thierry Small was forced off after 30 minutes of the first half, but is believed to be fit for Saturday’s friendly.

Sheffield Wednesday likely to be the first fixture:

Lumley; Swinkels, Santos, Otegbayo; Palmer, Slattery, Bannan, M Lowe; Liongola, McNeill, Barry

Preston North End likely to start series:

Iversen; Ofiah, Lindsay, Hughes, Jr.; Lang, Devine, Whiteman, Moran; Osmajic, Rabbi

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Preston North End

Things are certainly looking up for Sheffield Wednesday as they approach a fresh start with a new team, but they struggled against Championship opposition in their first friendly and may not be ready to challenge Preston North End at this stage of pre-season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, score lines and more for this game please click here.