England League Cup: AFC Bournemouth - Preston North End
I got a very close up look at Preston North End on Saturday, I have to be honest and say that they did not deserve to lose 5-0 to the mighty, mighty Bees, but overall, they played just about where I ranked them ahead of the game, which is definitely below last season's 11th place finish . They have some very big clubs (by Championship standards) below and immediately above them in the table, they could quickly get into real trouble and this is not a league in which it is easy to play catch up, games being ultra competitive, with no easy fixtures and they have a vital "bottom six" clash with local rivals Wigan Athletic (stadiums are just 30 minutes apart) on FRIDAY night and that surely has to take priority.
So, PNE played at Griffin Park on Saturday, where they were eventually run ragged, now make an even longer trip down to the South Coast on Tuesday on face a Premier League side and play a game in front of the television cameras that they dare not lose in three days time !
I spoke about the pressure that Simon Grayson was under last week, but he knows that it has to be all about the league and he made 11 changes for the last EFL cup tie and is very likely to go down a similar route this evening. His team started both halves strongly on Saturday and if they had equalised at 0-1 (huge save from Bentley in the Brentford goal, it could have been a different story..... see, I can be unbiased !) but collapsed once the second goal was conceded and the Bees ran riot.
I assume Bournemouth will rotate too, but they have a very strong squad and can field two largely similar first teams IMO. Easy home win !
Bournemouth -1 ball 2.06 asian line/Sportmarket
I got a very close up look at Preston North End on Saturday, I have to be honest and say that they did not deserve to lose 5-0 to the mighty, mighty Bees, but overall, they played just about where I ranked them ahead of the game, which is definitely below last season's 11th place finish . They have some very big clubs (by Championship standards) below and immediately above them in the table, they could quickly get into real trouble and this is not a league in which it is easy to play catch up, games being ultra competitive, with no easy fixtures and they have a vital "bottom six" clash with local rivals Wigan Athletic (stadiums are just 30 minutes apart) on FRIDAY night and that surely has to take priority.
So, PNE played at Griffin Park on Saturday, where they were eventually run ragged, now make an even longer trip down to the South Coast on Tuesday on face a Premier League side and play a game in front of the television cameras that they dare not lose in three days time !
I spoke about the pressure that Simon Grayson was under last week, but he knows that it has to be all about the league and he made 11 changes for the last EFL cup tie and is very likely to go down a similar route this evening. His team started both halves strongly on Saturday and if they had equalised at 0-1 (huge save from Bentley in the Brentford goal, it could have been a different story..... see, I can be unbiased !) but collapsed once the second goal was conceded and the Bees ran riot.
I assume Bournemouth will rotate too, but they have a very strong squad and can field two largely similar first teams IMO. Easy home win !
Bournemouth -1 ball 2.06 asian line/Sportmarket
k:
:monsters-
