Pundit Chris Sutton is backing Preston North End to snatch a draw in this weekend’s FA Cup tie at Premier League giants Chelsea.
Championship action takes a back seat this weekend – and that’s probably a relief for PNE boss Ryan Lowe.
North End’s league form has been dire for around three months now, winning just four of the last 19 league games.
A 2-1 Boxing Day win over Leeds United now seems like a flash in the pan after defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland.
Lowe is under immense pressure from supporters but the FA Cup offers something of a relief.
Nobody is expecting PNE to go away to Chelsea and win the game, with a defeat unlikely to change the outlook on Lowe’s future.
Chris Sutton backs North End to secure a draw against Chelsea
This is PNE’s first trip to Stamford Bridge since an FA Cup tie way back in February 2002.
North End took the lead in West London but ended up falling as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen turned the game.
PNE did meet Chelsea in the FA Cup in 2010, losing 2-0 under Darren Ferguson at Deepdale.
Lowe will now hope to put North End’s poor league form to one side and come up with a surprise result in the capital.
Pundit and former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton is now backing PNE to spring something of a shock and take a draw at Stamford Bridge.
Sutton has told BBC Sport that he thinks PNE will ‘dig in’ and secure a 1-1 draw before predicting that Chelsea will eventually win the replay.
“Chelsea are already in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and a good run in the FA Cup will be important to Mauricio Pochettino too, although I think Preston will dig in at Stamford Bridge and take them to a replay,” said Sutton.
North End would certainly take a replay given the increased money which would come from a second game against one of the Premier League’s big dogs.
A battling performance against the 2021 Champions League winners would give Lowe a little more breathing room too, with the former Plymouth Argyle boss needing any boost he can get at the moment.
Lowe caused some uproar earlier this week by suggesting that this game against Chelsea is the least of his worries amid dreadful league displays.
PNE will be cheered on by more than 6,000 travelling supporters, with this game meaning plenty to the North End fans.
It has been a while since PNE supporters were given a huge Premier League away day in the FA Cup and this weekend’s trip to London will be a big one – no matter the result.