Match Preview: Peterborough United (H)

20 August 2021

After three away games on the bounce, Preston North End return to Deepdale on Saturday to host Peterborough United.

Posh make the journey to PR1 for the first time since March 2015, in the season which PNE clinched promotion to the Championship, and Peterborough managed to do the same last term after eight years in League One.

Match Information
Venue: Deepdale
Date: Saturday 21^st August, 3pm kick-off
Competition: EFL Sky Bet Championship (Matchday 4/46)
Kit: Home kit – available to order here!

Supporter Information

Saturday marks the second chance PNE supporters have had to return home after such a long time away, and there’s still time to get your ticket if you haven’t already, with full details here.

The new fan zone will again be open, starting from 12pm with last orders at 2.30pm, and after full-time it will re-open with last orders at 5.45pm. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are on offer, alongside other refreshments and live music.

Overseas supporters will again be able to stream this match live on iFollow PNE, while UK and Ireland residents will have access to live commentary, with full subscription details here.

PNE Team News

Frankie McAvoy confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Tom Barkhuizen, who has been isolating since last week, has been unwell suffering with Covid.

There will be a phased return of seven to nine days once he is well enough to return to training, and everyone at the club sends Tom their best wishes.

The Opposition

Peterborough head into the weekend having experienced every result outcome so far this season, having lost, won and drawn in their opening three games respectively.

It was late heartbreak in their last game which prevented them from consecutive victories, as 84^th and 96^th-minute goals from Cardiff defender Aden Flint earned his side a point away from home.

In charge of Posh and making a return to Deepdale on Saturday is former PNE manager Darren Ferguson, who was in charge of the Lilywhites between January and December 2010.

Key Stats

Peterborough were the top scorers in League One last season, netting 83 times on their way to promotion to the Championship.

Striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, formerly of Rotherham United, played a direct part in over 40 per cent of those goals, with 34 goal contributions, but is yet to score or assist so far this season.

This is a game which has very rarely ended goalless, with just three of the 24 meetings between the two sides involving clean sheets for both defences, but equally so, only one of the last eight meetings has seen both teams score.

Our Last Meeting

PNE last faced Peterborough, a League One side at the time, in January 2016 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

It was the Posh, managed by Graham Westley, who came out on top, with goals from Martin Samuelsen and Conor Washington sealing their place in the fifth round.

Man In The Middle

Dean Whitestone will be the man with the whistle on Saturday, and he is an official Preston North End are fairly familiar with, given that he has taken charge of eight of their fixtures in the last two seasons.

Those games included the fantastic 4-2 victory away at Brentford last October, while he blew the final whistle just moments after Brad Potts scored a dramatic equaliser at home to Norwich in April.

He’s seen plenty of goals go in this season, too, refereeing Fulham’s 5-1 victory over Huddersfield Town and the Championship opener between AFC Bournemouth and West Brom which ended 2-2.

Linked Stories

Ben Welcomes Deepdale Return
For Championship Double Header Frankie Wishes Barky
A Quick Recovery

Match Reports

Match Report: PNE 1 Peterborough United 0

21 August 2021

Patrick Bauer’s goal on his return to Championship action earned Preston North End their first league victory of the campaign.

Bauer opened the scoring for PNE just 14 minutes into his first league appearance since picking up an Achilles injury in December 2020, heading home Ryan Ledson’s free-kick.

Team news revealed a blow for North End, with Alan Browne, Liam Lindsay and Ched Evans all missing through isolation, while Tom Barkhuizen continued his recovery from Covid.

Bauer was one of the men to come in and he scored with what was the first real chance of the game, with Ledson sending a brilliant cross into the box from a free-kick, and the returning German was there to head home.

North End then had three chances to double their lead within as many minutes around the half-hour mark. First it was skipper Daniel Johnson who came close, seeing a left-footed effort rise over the bar, before the woodwork then prevented Ben Whiteman from 20 yards, with the ball bouncing down off the underside of the bar, but staying out.

Moments later, a fantastic pass from Sepp van den Berg sent Scott Sinclair one-on-one with goalkeeper Christy Pym, but Peterborough’s No.1 came out on top.

PNE went into the break a goal ahead and were nearly made to pay for not taking those chances five minutes into the second half. Siriki Dembele broke into the home box and showed great feet to work himself into an area to take aim from just more than six yards, but van den Berg did superbly well to block on the line, before Jordan Storey and Andrew Hughes then threw themselves in front of follow-ups.

The Lilywhites then had two chances to double their lead in the same attack, with Sinclair firstly being denied by the feet of Pym, and Whiteman then struck a fierce half volley just wide.

Daniel Iversen was called into action on 60 minutes as he produced a superb save to keep out Jonson Clarke-Harris’ header, but the offside flag went up anyway.

Andrew Hughes then almost had a goal to his name against his former club as Ledson’s corner was headed back across goal at the far post by Bauer to Hughes, and he saw his header tipped over the bar.

In the 77th minute, substitute Emil Riis went on a powerful run down the left and did so well to beat his man twice on his way to goal, but he couldn’t quite finish it off, seeing Pym save his low strike.

DJ and Brad Potts were denied in stoppage time with chances that might have killed the game off, and Iversen had to produce a brilliant save to deny Clarke-Harris in the final action of the match before the referee blew his whistle to confirm a well-deserved PNE victory.

PNE line-up: Iversen; Storey, Bauer, Hughes; van den Berg, Whiteman, Ledson, Johnson, Earl; Maguire (Potts, 79), Sinclair (Riis, 69).

Subs not used: Rudd, Cunningham, Bayliss, Rafferty, Rodwell-Grant.

Peterborough line-up: Pym; Kent, Thompson, Knight (Randall); Ward, Norburn, Grant, Burrows (Szmodics, 66), Butler; Dembele (Marriott, 66), Clarke-Harris.

Subs not used: Cornell, Edwards, Tomlinson, Barker.

Referee: Mr D Whitestone

Attendance: 9,952 (690 away fans)

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