The odds on Preston to be relegated from the Championship have shortened from 2/5 to 1/5 with Star Sports, as four of six bookmakers cut. Read on now.
The odds on Preston to be relegated from the Championship have been cut from 2/5 to 1/5 with Star Sports, and anyone who has watched this side struggle this season won't be surprised.
Bet Victor still have 2/5 on offer, but four of six bookmakers tracked have now cut their price on the drop.
Preston sit 24th, rock bottom of the table, with just four points from their opening 11 league matches.
Ali McCann, Harry Clarke and Liam Gibbs remain sidelined as the injury list at Deepdale grows.
No other side in this market is close to Preston's implied probability for finishing in the bottom three.
No single result has been confirmed as the direct catalyst for this move, but the picture around the club makes the market reaction easy to follow. Preston have shipped a division-high 24 goals in their opening Championship matches and are still waiting on a first clean sheet. That leaky defence is the engine room problem driving this market, and it explains why bookmakers have reacted the way they have. The change in the dugout hasn't helped either: the club's current manager lost each of his first three Championship games in charge. A side shipping goals at this rate, with results this stubborn to turn around, tends to keep drifting the wrong way on the log.
The injury list is making a tough job harder still. Speaking at his pre-match press conference on 21 October 2026, the manager revealed that persistent fitness setbacks have forced early substitutions in every match since he took over. With McCann, Clarke and Gibbs all missing, the club are now looking at the free-agent market to plug the gaps. A squad stretched this thin, playing in front of a defence this fragile, is exactly the sort of situation that keeps traders leaning one way, which is why four of six bookmakers have now shortened their price on the drop.
Championship Relegation odds
Best odds on Preston stand at 2/5 with Bet Victor, the shortest price anywhere in this market, with 1/3 also on offer with William Hill. That gap to the rest of the field tells its own story, with nothing else in the Championship pricing up as a realistic alternative for the drop based on current form.
Last updated: 23 October 2026, 22:25 UK time
Odds below are live and may have changed since publishing this article.
Who is favourite to be relegated from the Championship?
Preston are the clear favourites for the drop at a best price of 2/5 with Bet Victor, and it is hard to argue with that given where they sit in the table. They are bottom of the log, already trailing their relegation rivals, with a defence that keeps letting them down. Derby are the closest challengers in the market, with Bolton and Charlton further back. Nobody else in the Championship odds comes anywhere near the implied probability the bookmakers are giving Preston.
Preston – 2/5 with Bet Victor, bottom of the table.
Derby – 11/10 with Bet Victor, the nearest rival in the market.
Bolton – 13/5 with Skybet, a price matched by Betfair Sportsbook.
Charlton – 11/4 with Paddy Power, also available with Skybet and Betfair Sportsbook.
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How do Preston avoid being relegated from the Championship?
It starts with sorting out that back line, and the next test is a stiff one. Fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion visit Deepdale on Saturday 24 October 2026, and Preston will be without Lewis Gibson after he picked up a fresh setback in training. Losing another body from a squad already this thin hardly helps a side still searching for its first shutout. The free-agent search is the short-term fix until the January window opens, but unless the home side can find some defensive steel quickly, the market's view is unlikely to shift. Our take matches the bookies here: the price reflects a side with real problems, and at this stage Preston look the team most under threat of the drop.
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