Preston have started to play a possession based game but still tend to play long about twice as much as we do, They play either a 4231 or a 4141, although the later has tended to be more successful for them. They do like keep the ball in midfield and to attack down their left.
So we will need Connor and Nathan to tight on Saturday. We have allowed teams to make more progress down the wings in our opening matches, that might cause us problems if we don’t tighten up.
We tend to be be more balanced in our attacks down both wings, and if we can press their left sided midfielder into defending more it might cut down their attacking options dramatically and put them into a defensive mindset early on.
I am a little worried about being overrun in the middle of the park especially if they play a 4141. We will need both fullbacks pushed up into midfield most of the time but on the plus side there might be gaps between their midfielders and fullbacks for us to exploit.
If we press hard their defenders aren’t skilled at playing out so they will play long, hoping to get the second ball. If we have enough in midfield we should be able to compete and recycle to play our passing game.
It won’t be easy on Saturday as they are coming off the back of two big wins and two clean sheets. If we can get 3 points on Saturday, it will be well earned and will be a good indication for the following two matches against QPR and Brum.