Lancashire

These sides will go into Sunday's game at The Hawthorns (12:00 BST) full of confidence.

West Brom opened the campaign with a 2-1 win at Norwich City while Burnley came from 2-0 down at home to West Ham to claim a draw at Turf Moor.

• West Bromwich Albion are winless across each of their past seven league games against Burnley (D5 L2), since a 1-0 away win on matchday two of the 2017-18 Premier League campaign.

• Burnley lost each of their first six away meetings with West Bromwich Albion this century but are unbeaten in their most recent four, drawing each of the past three (W1).

• After beating Norwich 2-1, West Brom are looking to win the opening two games of a league campaign in successive seasons. Prior to that, West Brom had completed the feat just once since 1998-99 onwards (2017-18).

• Burnley went unbeaten in each of their final 16 Championship away games en route to promotion in 2025 (W11 D5) and only three teams have had longer runs in the competition's history (since 2004-05): Leicester City (20, ending in Oct 2023), Hull City (17, ending in April 2011) and Reading (17 ending in Feb 2006).

• Since the start of 2024, West Brom have won just one of their 14 league games against sides relegated form the Premier League the season prior (D8 L5), though are unbeaten across their last six at home (W1 D5).

Burnley are targeting a move for Feyenoord defender Anel Ahmedhodzic. The 27-year-old Bosnian is also interesting former club Sheffield United and Southampton. (Anthony Joseph - Sky Sports), external

Meanwhile, the Clarets could be set to lose forward Zian Flemming. French Ligue 1 side Lille are interested in signing the 28-year-old Dutch striker who has already scored three goals this season. (Fabrice Hawkins - RMC Sport), external

Read more of Thursday's EFL gossip here.

This is a meeting between two founder members of the English Football League with Preston winning 4-0 on the second weekend of the 1888-89 season.

Since then, Preston have won 49 of their encounters while Wolves have recorded 47 victories and there have been 27 draws in all competitions.

• Each of Preston's past four home league games against Wolves have finished as draws since a 3-1 loss in September 2008. It is the same amount of stalemates as across their prior 18 home meetings with Wolves combined.

• Wolves have lost just one of their past eight league games against Preston North End (W3 D4), with this the first meeting between the pair since a 1-1 draw in February 2018.

• Preston have lost just two of their past 11 league games against sides relegated from the Premier League the season prior (W4 D5), though did lose their most recent on home soil against Southampton in May (1-3).

• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Wolves have failed to win any of their past 11 matches played on the opening two days of a campaign, losing each of their five away games in that run while netting just one goal in total.

• On the opening day of the 2026-27 Championship season, no player completed more successful passes than Wolves defender Toti Gomes (88), while his 95.7% pass accuracy rate was the strongest of any player to produce 40+ completed passes in the competition.

Burnley and Southampton have moved ahead of Sheffield United in the race for £4m rated Bosnian defender Anel Ahmedhodzic, 27, who joined Feyenoord from the Blades last summer. (The Star, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

Preston and Stoke are set to be disappointed in their pursuit of Hull City defender Cody Drameh who reportedly wants to remain with the Premier League club. The two Championship clubs are reported to have offered £1m for the right-back. (Sky Sports), external

Find more of Tuesday's EFL gossip here.

Natalie Bromley
Fan writer

Image source, Shutterstock

I jumped from my seat. Punched the air. And screamed until my throat felt hoarse.

Burnley had scored a late, late equaliser in a pulsating game, with no VAR to destroy the joy, and the Turf Moor faithful had nothing to do but glance briefly at the flag and raise the roof.

It has been such a very long time since I experienced that level of joy at a club football match.

So much has already been written about the misery of the past three seasons and how the football was becoming almost too unbearable to watch.

It felt like a collective relief and hope was in the east Lancashire air, with a new cohort of players connecting with its loyal fans and fighting until the final whistle was blown.

And the spearhead for this new era? New manager Nicky Hayen, who just seems to 'get us'.

He spent the week leading up the game meeting with the fan advisory board and getting to know what we want, while also articulating his expectations (booing = a no).

A meeting of minds and philosophies all came to a head on Sunday afternoon, as players greeted fans on arrival, warmed up in front of the busiest home stands, whipped up the support during the game and then enjoyed a lap of honour when every player applauded every supporter and thanked them for being there. With eye contact!

New signings Max Alleyne and Ugo Raghouber looked sprightly and promising, with moments of composure well beyond their years.

Old guards Zeki Amdouni and Armando Broja did exactly what you want substitutes to do - change the game. And Zian Flemming did what Zian Flemming does best. Scores goals.

The focus before the game was all about West Ham. How they will walk the league with record points.

Maybe they will, but Burnley FC are masters of the Championship and have found themselves a very promising manager, who is reconnecting the club from top to bottom.

We can, and should, push them all the way for that title.

There is one piece of the puzzle left. Burnley fans asked for Parker to be sacked. Now it's our turn to show up and uphold our end of the bargain.

We got what we wanted, now we need to back this new team and this new manager and march on to the Championship title together. Again.

Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast, external

Image source, Shutterstock

Midfielder Isaac Sinclair faces several months out of action after Accrington Stanley revealed he needs an operation on an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

The 25-year-old, who has yet to play for Accrington this season, damaged his knee during a training session.

Sinclair, who joined the club from non-league Curzon Ashton in 2025, will have surgery and then face a prolonged spell of rehab.

The club said in a statement on X: "Everyone at #asfc wishes Isaac Sinclair a speedy and healthy recovery."

Jack Bridge
Preston North End fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

There is a danger after any opening-day defeat of reading too much into 90 minutes.

For Preston North End though, Saturday's 2-1 loss at Bolton Wanderers feels less like the beginning of a new problem and more like the continuation of an old one.

North End ended last season with a whimper. After 34 Championship games they had 49 points and were sitting eighth, having spent much of the campaign in and around the play-off places.

They took just 11 points from their final 12 matches to eventually finish 14th.

The concern for Preston supporters was not simply the team had fallen away from the play-off picture, it was the manner of the decline.

There were heavy reverses at Coventry and Norwich, three-goal defeats by Oxford and Southampton, and losses to West Brom and Birmingham City.

The defence, in particular, became increasingly difficult to trust.

That made the summer an important one for Paul Heckingbottom and the club's recruitment team.

Preston have not been inactive. Lee Nicholls, Leo Leroy and Harry Clarke have arrived, while Alfie Devine has returned permanently after his loan spell and Jusef Erabi and Delano Burgzorg have joined on loan.

But recruitment is not simply about counting arrivals - it is about whether the squad is better and that is where questions remain.

Lewis Dobbin, Daniel Jebbison and Milos Lukovic returned to their parent clubs then Robbie Brady, Will Keane and Jamal Lewis also departed the club.

Most significantly, captain Ben Whiteman has now left for Wrexham.

Whiteman had made 224 appearances for Preston since joining in 2021 and had become one of the most recognisable figures of the modern North End side. In the end, this departure on the face of it, looks like a good solution for all parties - we wish him all the best in the other 44 games for Wrexham this season.

However, there is a much bigger question around the defence.

Andrew Hughes and Jordan Storey have both been at Deepdale since 2018. Liam Lindsay has been there since 2021.

That is a remarkable amount of continuity for a Championship defence. Especially when North End conceded 62 league goals last season and at Bolton the warning signs appeared again.

Sam Dalby put the hosts ahead after 14 minutes before Thierry Gale doubled the advantage. Preston eventually responded through Erabi in the closing stages, but by then they had given themselves too much to do.

There will understandably be calls for patience. It is the first weekend of August. New players need time to settle. Heckingbottom deserves the opportunity to work with the squad he has been given. But patience should not mean ignoring a pattern.

Preston's final quarter of last season was poor. Their summer recruitment has left questions about whether the squad has genuinely moved forward and their opening-day performance suggested some of the weaknesses from last season remain.

That is why Saturday's defeat feels significant, not because one game should define a season but because it has reopened questions Preston supporters have been asking for months.

The challenge now is not simply to recover from one defeat to Bolton. It is to prove that this is a different Preston North End to the one that limped over the line in May, there's still time to make the improvements needed for a successful Championship season.