Preston's Leaking Defence Faces Sheffield Utd's Inconsistent Blade
SportSignals Match Desk · Football analysis desk ·
Preston are in trouble. Not the 'we need a result soon' kind of trouble. The 'we cannot keep a clean sheet to save ourselves' kind. Twelve goals conceded in five Championship matches, zero clean sheets, and a run of three consecutive defeats. That is not a rough patch. That is a defensive collapse.
Preston's Form: Alarming and Getting Worse
The basics are not there for Preston right now. Preston drew with QPR, drawing 2-2, then lost to Millwall, lost to Birmingham, lost to Wrexham, and finally drew with West Brom. Two draws and three defeats from five. Goals for: four. Goals against: twelve. The thing is, that gap between four and twelve tells you everything about where the problems are.
Preston lost to Birmingham 0-4 and lost to Wrexham 1-4. Back to back drubbings. The attitude going into those matches has to be questioned. You cannot concede four goals in successive Championship fixtures and explain it away with tactics or misfortune. That is an accountability issue. End of.
Sheffield Utd: Better, But Not Convincing
Sheffield Utd are not exactly setting the world alight either. Their last five Championship outings read win, draw, loss, win, loss. Two wins, one draw, two defeats. Eight goals scored, six conceded. Two clean sheets from five. There is something to work with there, but the inconsistency is a concern.
Sheffield Utd beat Lincoln City 3-0, then lost to Portsmouth, then beat Bristol City 1-0, then drew with Derby. The pattern is one step forward, one step back. They have the desire on their day. They just cannot string performances together.
Listen, Sheffield Utd are not a bad side. But if you cannot beat Preston away from home right now, with Preston in the kind of form they are showing, then you have a real problem with your standards.
Head to Head: Goals Are Coming
These two sides have met once in this competition. Preston won that meeting 3-2, with both sides scoring. One meeting, five goals, both teams on the scoresheet. It is a small sample but it points in one direction. Goals.
Preston's defensive record gives Sheffield Utd every reason to be confident going forward. Sixty percent of Preston's last five ended with both teams scoring. Zero clean sheets at home in that window. If Sheffield Utd compete properly and play with desire in the final third, they will create chances.
The Verdict
Preston need a performance. Not a tactical masterclass. A performance. Desire, organisation at the back, and the basics executed properly. They have shown none of that in three successive Championship losses, and this is a match they could easily drop again.
Sheffield Utd are not consistent enough to back heavily, but they are walking into a fixture against a side that has conceded twelve goals in five matches. The thing is, their attack does not need to be at its best to find a way through here. Preston's defence is there for the taking.
This match has goals in it. Both sides have shown they can score and both have shown they can be cut open. The head to head backed that up. If Preston cannot find some defensive solidity in the opening twenty minutes, this could get away from them quickly.
Back goals. Back Sheffield Utd to compete. And watch Preston's backline with serious concern, because nothing in their recent evidence suggests they have solved anything.