After last weekend’s opening day victory over Sheffield Wednesday, it is back to league action for the Lilywhites on Saturday with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United.
Like North End, Leeds opened the season with three points, defeating Bolton Wanderers in front of the TV cameras at the Macron Stadium last Sunday, before defeating Port Vale in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
This was a first win for the new man at the helm, Thomas Christiansen, whose side got off to an excellent start, after a summer of change at Leeds, with a new owner as well as a new manager and a number of new signings.
The Opposition
Midfielder Mateusz Klich, goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald and attacker Ezgjan Alioski are among the players that the Whites have recruited so far this summer, along with Everton defender Matthew Pennington on loan, after Kyle Bartley returned to Swansea City after his loan spell and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson from Manchester United.
Samu Saiz, is another to come in and he announced himself with a hat-trick against the Valiants in the league’s cup competition, although he was also involved in an incident that left people talking about that rather than his impressive goals haul.
In their opening league game a couple of Leeds defenders suffered injuries, but the manager will be hoping the players are suitably recovered for the weekend. Speaking after the Bolton game, he said: “Berardi’s injury was his shoulder and Matthew Pennington’s was his ankle.
“We will know more in the next couple of days. It’s disappointing, but at the same time I was very pleased with the contribution of Conor Shaughnessy and Vurnon Anita.They came on and did well, so there were negatives and positives and overall I enjoyed it a lot.”
PNE Team News
Alex Neil will be hoping that Josh Harrop is fit to be available for his competitive debut in a North End shirt, whilst he has decisions to make up front after Jordan Hugill’s brace in midweek.
Skipper Tom Clarke is of course sidelined, but there are very few other issues for the manager to contend with as he looks to make his selections.
The Officials
Taking charge of Saturday’s game is Northumberland official Scott Duncan. His last North End game was the 3-0 home win over Reading in March, which was his third PNE game of last season, having been referee for the EFL Cup win over Oldham Athletic at Deepdale and the defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in early December.
The previous year he was the match official for the League Cup tie at Crewe Alexandra, which saw a 3-1 win for the Lilywhites. The previous year he took charge of the team twice, both at Deepdale, our 1-0 home win over Oldham back in August 2014 and the 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient in January.
This is Scott’s sixth year on the EFL lists, having been appointed to the elite group in 2012/13, taking charge of his first PNE game in what proved to be Graham Westley’s final home game, against Shrewsbury Town.
Stat Attack
• This is our 26th league game at Elland Road but only the 24th time we have played Leeds United there. Our first two visits there, in 1913 and 1914, were to face Leeds City who entered the Football League in 1905. Leeds City were thrown out of division two in 1919 after failing to co-operate into an investigation in alleged payments to players during the First World War, which was banned.
• Leeds United were formed the same year and took over ownership of Elland Road, entering the league the following season. Our first return visit to Elland Road came on 13th September 1924, when we lost by 4-0. This set the trend for meetings ever since, with 17 of the 27 games featuring three goals or more and only one goalless draw, back in 2005. The high point for North End fans of course was our thrilling 6-4 victory in 2010, having been 4-1 down approaching half-time. Jon Parkin's hat-trick that night is the only one by a North End player in this fixture.
• Our only previous away league game on this date was at Grimsby in 2000, when goals from Michael Appleton and Jon Macken secured a 2-1 victory at Blundell Park. We have also won three League Cup ties away from Deepdale on this date, at Rotherham, Rochdale and Crewe.
• Jordan Hugill is the most recent of the six post-war players to make their debuts on this date. Jordan's first game for North End came in the previously mentioned League Cup tie at Rochdale when he replaced Kevin Davies in the 80th minute.
Match Coverage
This is the second fixture of the new iFollow broadcasts. If you live outside of the UK and Ireland you can sign up to iFollow Premium and watch the game live! Every game that is not shown live on Sky or chosen at the ITN main game on Channel 5, will be available for iFollow Premium subscribers who live outside of the UK and Ireland – you can sign up for a season pass or just one game at a time.
For those in the UK who can’t attend the game will still be able to receive audio commentary of every game as well.
As well as this, our matchday centre on PNE.Com will be in full flow, as well as all the usual coverage on our social media channels of Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can interact with us on any of these channels.
Ticket Information
The club have been given an initial allocation of 970 situated in the upper tier of the John Charles West Stand. Ticket prices for this game are as follows: Pre-match prices - adults £39, seniors (60 and over) and 16 to 22-year-olds £26, U16s £18 and U11s £9.
Disabled supporters tickets are priced at £26 with the carer ticket free of charge. Junior disabled supporters pay as per the relevant age band above.
Matchday prices (subject to availability) - adults £44, seniors (60 and over) and 16 to 22-year-olds £31, U16s £18 and U11s £9.
Disabled supporters tickets are priced at £31 on the day, with the carer ticket free of charge. Junior disabled supporters pay as per the relevant age band above.
There are 12 pairs of wheelchair and carer tickets and 12 pairs of ambulant disabled and carer tickets. Please note that ambulant disabled supporter tickets are situated in the lower tier for ease of access.
Leeds United advise disabled supporters to use Car Park B at the ground should they be travelling by car, as it is the nearest to the main entrance.
Parking is free for Blue Badge holders and is issued on a first come first served basis through Leeds United.
Headsets for match commentary are available for visually impaired supporters. A £20 deposit is required and headsets must be booked in advance by contacting Leeds United's DLO on 0113 367 6178.
Coach travel is also available for this game and is priced at £15 for all. Coaches will depart from Deepdale and Leyland at 12.30pm.