Match report
Fer López double sends Wolves past Preston at Deepdale
Wolves won 3-1 at Deepdale in a Championship fixture from the second round of matches, moving to third in the table while Preston remained without a win in 22nd. The victory continued a strong start for Cesar Peixoto's side after their opening-day form, while Paul Heckingbottom's Preston slipped to another defeat despite a late consolation.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Fer López put the visitors ahead inside eight minutes, converting after André supplied the assist, and that goal stood as the only separation at half-time. Wolves then pulled clear in the second half as Adam Armstrong added a second in the 71st minute, teed up by Raúl Jiménez, before Fer López completed his brace nine minutes later with an assist from Thomas Doyle to make it 3-0.
Preston finally got on the scoresheet deep into stoppage time when Jordan Thompson converted a chance created by Delano Burgzorg, but by then the contest had long been settled. Wolves managed less possession than their hosts but were far more incisive, converting three of their nine attempts while Preston's six efforts yielded just the one goal.
Fer López scored twice, including the opener in the eighth minute, and finished with a rating of 7.9 to lead all performers on the pitch.
Wolves posted an expected goals figure of 0.58 against Preston's 0.15, reflecting the visitors' greater threat in front of goal despite having less of the ball.
Wolves won 3–1 away against Preston (half-time 0–1).
Preston met Wolves in the Championship (Regular Season - 2). Kick-off was Saturday, 22 August 2026, 14:00 UTC at Deepdale. Referee: Elliot Bell.
Team pages: Preston · Wolves · Championship
Key moments
- 8' Goal: Fer López (assist: André) — 0–1 · Watch Fer López's goal video (8')
- 71' Goal: Adam Armstrong (assist: Raúl Jiménez) — 0–2
- 82' Goal: Fer López (assist: Tommy Doyle) — 0–3
- 90+1' Goal: Jordan Thompson (assist: Delano Burgzorg) — 1–3
Starting line-ups
Preston (4-2-3-1)
Wolves (4-2-3-1)
- 1 José Sá
- 3 Hugo Bueno
- 24 Toti Gomes (c)
- 34 Nasser Djiga
- 38 Jackson Tchatchoua
- 7 André
- 5 Marshall Munetsi
- 36 Mateus Mane
- 28 Fer López
- 21 Rodrigo Gomes
- 9 Raúl Jiménez
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Preston 20%, the draw 25%, Wolves 55%. It finished Preston 1–3 Wolves.
Wolves' rating gap outweighs Preston's home ground — Wolves are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade plus a weak Championship home advantage on top give Wolves a clear lead. The draw at 25% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Wolves at 55%?
Wolves sit 311 points higher on our strength rating — 1381 to 1691. Sides with a more than 300-point rating edge on the road won 65.8% of 5,189 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Preston's column. Across 10,641 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018. Championship home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (26.9% vs 24.9% norm). Championship homes won 43.0% of 8,367 games vs 44.9% across all 99,210 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. The 300 most similar past games finished 27–22–51.
Why only 55%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 55% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 25% and Preston at 20%.
Why the draw at 25%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 21.3%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,834. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw. Championship runs draw-heavy, adding 2.0 points.
What did we measure but not count?
Last 6 between them: Preston 1 win, 2 draws, Wolves 3 wins. Most recently Wolves 2–1 Preston, 4 years ago. Fixture history hasn't carried forward once class is level: past leaders won just 28.1% of 5578 such games — no measurable edge, 0 points.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Preston vs Wolves final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Championship fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Preston 1–3 Wolves. Explore more on the Preston and Wolves team pages or the Championship page.