Preston North End take on Burnley in a Lancashire derby on Tuesday, with both teams looking to return to winning ways.
The visitors have made a decent start to life under Vincent Kompany's management, sitting fifth in the Championship table with 13 points from eight games.
Match preview
Preston, meanwhile, have had one of the strangest starts to a season in living memory, having only scored two goals and conceded one across their first eight matches.
The Lilywhites became only the third team in English history to keep seven successive clean sheets at the beginning of a season after their 1-0 win away to Coventry City, before finally seeing their rearguard broken in a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Birmingham City last time out.
Ryan Lowe, who left Plymouth Argyle to succeed Frankie McAvoy last December, has clearly made Preston an incredibly difficult side to break down, but equally will be hoping to get more from his offensive assets having only managed to score twice themselves, albeit with those two goals generating two 1-0 wins.
Still, they are a side working on a small budget compared to the majority of the teams in the division, especially one like their forthcoming opponents Burnley, who are benefiting from parachute payments following their relegation from the Premier League.
As such, Lowe will almost certainly not mind keeping things tight for another match when Kompany's side roll into town on Tuesday.
Indeed, only Sheffield United and Bristol City have managed more than Burnley's tally of 14 goals in eight matches, with the Clarets posing a threat for most of their opponents so far.
Despite selling the likes of Dwight McNeil, Maxwel Cornet and Wout Weghorst during the summer transfer window, Kompany managed to hold onto attacking stalwarts Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez, with the loan signing of Nathan Tella appearing to be a particularly shrewd one given the young forward's instant impact during his opening weeks at the club.
Tella's pace and movement has given them a different dimension going forward, as was evident when he was brought down by West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper David Button when clean through on goal in their last match, allowing Rodriguez to convert from the penalty spot.
Kompany, a world-class defender at his peak during his playing days, of course, will be concerned by his side's lack of ability to hold onto leads in games, though, having conceded late equalisers to Blackpool and West Brom in their last four matches.
The 36-year-old will be aware that his side can not afford to hand Preston goals as easily, otherwise they could face an uphill task to get back into the game against a team as well-drilled offensively as their forthcoming opponents.
- W
- D
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- D
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
Preston could remain without Andrew Hughes, Ben Woodburn, Bambo Diaby and Sean Maguire due to injury on Tuesday, with the quartet expected to be back after the international break.
Lowe could restore Daniel Johnson to his midfield as he looks to get more offensive threat into the team, with Alistair McCann potentially dropping out of the starting XI.
Burnley, meanwhile, will hope the weekend's postponements have allowed goalkeeper Arijanet Muric to recover from the shoulder injury which saw him withdraw in the latter stages against West Brom.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell is on standby once again should the Manchester City loanee fail to be passed fit, while Kevin Long and Scott Twine will hope to return to the squad having missed out with knocks last time out.
Ashley Westwood is out until after the international break with a broken ankle.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Cunningham; Potts, Brown, Whiteman, Johnson, Brady; Parrott, Evans
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Muric; Roberts, Harwood-Bellis, Taylor, Maatsen; Cork, Cullen; Vitinho, Brownhill, Tella; Rodriguez
We say: Preston North End 0-1 Burnley
We can envisage another low-scoring match involving Preston, with the visitors likely to edge this Lancashire derby.
Kompany has made an impressive impact in a short amount of time at Burnley, and he will hope to record a clean sheet on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
