Two clubs who have endured underwhelming starts to the season went head-to-head on Sunday, as Brentford hosted Preston North End. The much-fancied Bees, who were playoff finalists last season, had only picked up four points before this clash. Preston were winless heading into their first-ever visit to the new Brentford Community Stadium.
And at half time, it seemed inevitable that North End’s winless start to the season would be extended to four matches. Two first-half goals from Brentford’s Ivan Toney saw them race into a 2-0 lead, which was harsh on Alex Neil’s men. However, his side rallied after the break to produce a stunning comeback. Scott Sinclair pulled one back after 53 minutes, and just seven minutes later the former Manchester City and Celtic winger produced the equaliser.
Brad Potts completed the turnaround three minutes later before Sean Maguire added some gloss to the scoreline. Four goals in 18 second-half minutes for a spirited Preston side, who ran out 4-2 winners.
This tactical analysis will delve into the tactics that both teams used.
Line-ups
Thomas Frank started with Luke Daniels in goal, due to the continued absence of number one David Raya. Henrik Dalsgaard featured at right-back, with Dominic Thompson on the other side. Ethan Pinnock partnered Pontus Jansson at centre-back. Danish international Christian Norgaard started just in front of the defence, but he was replaced by compatriot Matias Jensen after suffering an injury 20 minutes in. Josh Da Silva and Emiliano Marcondes were the more advanced central midfielders. Sergi Canos and Bryan Mbeumo supported striker Ivan Toney from the flanks. There was no starting berth for Said Benrahma, but he did feature from the bench.
