Last season's EFL League One winners Hull City travel across the Pennines to face Preston North End.

The two sides experienced polar opposite 2020/21 campaigns; the Tigers eventually strolled to the League One title to return the EFL Championship at the first time of asking, whereas Saturday's hosts finished a slightly-disappointing 13th with Frankie McAvoy in charge for the final eight games.

  • Form guide

Preston North End

The Lilywhites enjoyed an eventful pre-season. The sensational 8-3 win against Bamber Bridge preceded a rather uninspiring 1-1 draw at Scottish side St. Johnstone.

The team did, however, show up in the 1-0 win over Celtic - their second game north of the border in just days as preparations for 2021/22 intensified.

Back in England, however, a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Bolton Wanderers brought fans back down to Earth before another 1-1 draw, this time with Accrington Stanley, came ahead of the encouraging 2-0 loss to Premier League champions, Manchester City.

Another loss, this time 3-2 to Wigan Athletic, brought the off-season to an end in disappointing fashion, but there is reason to suggest that a decent campaign is in order.

Hull City

Grant McCann's side also endured a topsy-turvy build up to 2021/22.

Their preparations began with a poor 2-1 home defeat to Mansfield Town before a 1-0 win over Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park on the same day.

Sunderland then got the better of the team from East Yorkshire as Hull fell to a 2-1 defeat in added time.

There is definitely room for improvement, but the stunning 2-0 victory against Manchester United's u23's gives Tigers fans great optimism for what may be a challenging season ahead.

  • Team news

Preston North End

Young centre-half Sepp van den Berg on loan from Liverpool is expected to have another good season, beginning the campaign injury-free.

Scott Sinclair is also fit and ready to go after facing his old side Celtic in pre season.

Matthew Olosunde is ruled out as he is still recovering from a knock. Izzy Brown will be on the treatment table for the remainder of the year after rupturing his achilles against Bamber Bridge.

Hull City

Tom Huddlestone has been training with Hull for over a month, but Grant McCann is still coy on whether the ex-England international will be given a deal, so he will not feature in the curtain-raiser.

Left-back Callum Elder picked up an injury late in pre-season, so is a major doubt for the first game of the season.

After Jordan Flores was released earlier the week ahead of his move to Northampton Town, there is a void to fill in midfield but no potential new arrivals will sign in time to make the match day squad this weekend.

  • Predicted lineups

Preston North End (5-3-2)

Iversen, Hughes, Lindsay, Van den Berg, Cunningham, Barkhuizen, Ledson, Whiteman, Browne, Evans, Riis.

Hull City (4-3-3)

Ingram; Coyle, Emmanuel, Greaves, Jones; Docherty, Moncur, Honeyman; Lewis-Potter, Wilks, Magennis.

  • Previous meetings

Hull have won three of the last five meetings between the two sides, winning both clashes in 2019 4-0 and 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the Carabao Cup. Another Hull win, this time 2-1, preceded those fixtures after a 1-1 draw at the MKM Stadium.

Preston, however, came out as victors in the most recent encounter, beating McCann's men 2-1 at Deepdale courtesy of Paul Gallagher and Alan Browne's goals bettering Mallik Wilks' solitary strike.

  • Ones to watch

 

Ched Evans - Preston North End

Ched Evans' career seemed to have no limit back when he starred for Sheffield United, but turbulent times off the field led to four years away from the game before returning with Chesterfield in 2016. 

The 32-year-old may only have registered five goals in 22 games last season, but remains a real threat to any Championship defence on his day.

Mallik Wilks - Hull City

Wilks was Hull's top scorer last season with 22 goals in all competitions as the ex-Barnsley striker was the main driving force in his side's promotion campaign last season.

With an accurate eye for goal and impressive teamwork abilities, Wilks will be the man to watch all season as the Tigers look to bring their impressive form from 2019/20.

  • How to watch

The game is not being televised live on television in the UK, but is available to watch on the EFL's digital iFollow platform for those outside of the UK, with kick-off at 15:00 BST.