Match report
Ahearne-Grant strike gives Charlton win over Preston at The Valley
Charlton beat Preston 1-0 at The Valley in a Championship fixture from round three of the regular season, moving Nathan Jones's side to the top of the table. The only goal arrived in the second half, with the sides unable to find a way through during a goalless opening period.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Karlan Ahearne-Grant broke the deadlock in the 56th minute, finishing off an assist from Millenic Alli to put Charlton ahead, a lead they would not relinquish. Preston, managed by Paul Heckingbottom, pushed for a response but could not force an equaliser, extending their winless run in recent matches.
Charlton controlled much of the play, holding 58 per cent of possession and registering 15 shots to Preston's 12, though only two of those found the target. Preston were the more combative side without the ball, committing 21 fouls to Charlton's ten, while referee Tom Reeves booked one player from each team without needing to issue a red card.
Ahearne-Grant's second-half goal proved decisive and earned him the highest rating on the pitch at 7.91, edging out defenders Lloyd Jones and Amari'i Bell who also impressed at the back.
Charlton's dominance in possession, at 58 per cent to Preston's 42, underlined their control of the contest at The Valley.
Charlton beat Preston 1–0 (half-time 0–0).
Charlton met Preston in the Championship (Regular Season - 3). Kick-off was Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:00 UTC at The Valley. Referee: Tom Reeves.
Team pages: Charlton · Preston · Championship
Key moments
- 56' Goal: Karlan Grant (assist: Millenic Alli) — 1–0
Starting line-ups
Charlton (4-2-3-1)
Preston (5-3-2)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Charlton 44%, the draw 30%, Preston 26%. It finished Charlton 1–0 Preston.
Charlton's rating edge, but the draw is in play — Charlton are a shade stronger on our strength rating, and that is most of Charlton's 44%. The draw at 30% is up from the usual 26.5% for a gap this size, as small adjustments add up.
Why Charlton at 44%?
Charlton sit 56 points higher on our strength rating — 1426 to 1370. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge at home won 50.6% of 10,384 such games.
Why only 44%?
Preston hold 8 more possession points (45 to 37 in recent games) — and between equals, control has been worth something. Between evenly-matched sides, when the visitors held this control edge the home team's win rate fell to 40.2% across 5,551 games, from 44.0% when styles were level. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Charlton's column. Across 10,761 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw second, ahead of the Preston win?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 26.5%. These teams' recent games average 3.2 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 17,023. The goals environment takes 2.4 points off the draw. Championship runs draw-heavy, adding 2.0 points.
What did we measure but not count?
Preston won all of the last 5 games between these sides. Head-to-head dominance hasn't carried forward beyond the rating: sides that won 4+ of the last 5 meetings won 55.6% of 9,240 next meetings vs 55.0% class-expected. Charlton's last five: L-W-W-W-L — clearly the hotter side on recent results. Between equals, recent form told us almost nothing: the home side won 44.7% of 2195 games when clearly hotter and 42.9% of 4007 when clearly colder.
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 Charlton vs Preston 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 Charlton 1–0 Preston. Explore more on the Charlton and Preston team pages or the Championship page.