Preston’s ridiculous goal-shy start to the season continued on Saturday afternoon with yet another 0-0 draw, time away at Cardiff City.
North End went into the game having scored just once in five games to start the season.
That’s now once in six games; Brad Potts scoring a goal of the season contender away at Luton Town remains Preston’s only league goal of the season.
This latest stalemate means North End have drawn five games 0-0 this season, something that has made Preston a source of conversation in mainstream media.
It may sound quirky and a bit bizarre, but we’re frankly tired of it now and Saturday’s performance was arguably the worst in the league this season.
There is plenty for Ryan Lowe to think about right now, and here are four talking points we have picked out…
Are North End setting up too defensively?
Much has been suggested about Lowe’s setup of late having switched from a 3-5-2 to more of a 3-4-2-1.
This sees Troy Parrott lead the line with Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson pushed forward to support the Irishman.
Ryan Ledson has been partnering Ben Whiteman in midfield, giving North End a strong base through the middle of the pitch.
Some feel that Lowe doesn’t need to play that extra midfield in Ledson and should be going with a more attacking player – Ben Woodburn, Ched Evans or Emil Riis – to help Parrott up top.
There is certainly some merit to that, but we still created plenty of chances against Rotherham United and Watford whilst playing with that system.
Lowe realised it wasn’t working on Saturday though and threw Riis into the mix to try and help Parrott; it didn’t really help.
It may not be the formation but rather the personnel that isn’t working as hoped.
Browne is a great off-ball runner and Johnson can make things happen by picking up the ball in smart areas and using his technical ability.
Yet Preston seem a little one-paced at the moment. Johnson and Browne aren’t really going to drive at defenders with the ball at their feet, and it’s exacerbated by wing backs who don’t play that way either, then two central midfielders sitting deep.
North End need to recruit more speed in the final third, but given what Lowe has at his disposal right now, maybe Woodburn or Riis to start games would be a wise move.
What’s going on with Emil Riis?
On the face of things, leaving a striker who scored 20 goals in all competitions last season on the bench during a team-wide goal drought feels bizarre.
Yet we can also admit that Emil Riis just hasn’t started this season as he would have hoped, and frankly looks a little short of what is needed right now.
Riis isn’t really making the right decisions in the final third at the moment and it comes just as speculation links him with a move away to Middlesbrough.
After the final whistle at Cardiff, Lowe told Lancs Live that the rumours may be affecting Riis and he will sit down with the Dane on Monday.
Yet we all know that Riis is a confidence player; a knock can send him off the track a little, as we saw in his first season with the club.
Riis was dropped from the starting XI before rumours started about his future even started, so maybe the ball isn’t solely in his court here.
Riis may not even be a Preston player beyond Thursday if Middlesbrough firm up their interest, but if he remains at Deepdale moving forward, Lowe needs to find a way to get him scoring again – and substitute appearance just don’t feel like the way to do it.
Liam Lindsay is enjoying an incredible turnaround
Whilst Emil Riis was a hero last season and is now searching for form, the opposite can be said of defender Liam Lindsay.
If you had asked many Preston fans even six months ago, they probably would have named Lindsay as a player primed for the chopping block.
The Scot only joined permanently from Stoke City last summer but some shaky performances in the first half of last season left fans unconvinced.
Even when Lowe went with Lindsay over Patrick Bauer to start the season, some questioned that decision.
Yet in the opening weeks of this season, Lindsay has been colossal in the heart of North End’s back three.
Lindsay has looked confident on the ball and – especially against Cardiff – just seems to be in the right place at the right time to clear the danger.
The challenge is to keep that form going, but Lindsay deserves all the plaudits he’s receiving right now having effectively turned his Preston career around.
A huge few days await
The transfer deadline is looming large and North End need to back up early pre-season hope by making a couple of quality additions.
Fans put their faith in this North End ‘project’ by buying more than 12000 season cards, seemingly believing that Preston would be really pushing forward under Lowe.
It’s now over a month since North End signed a new face; Alvaro Fernandez arrived from Manchester United on July 26th.
So much of Preston’s summer has been positive; Freddie Woodman and Robbie Brady are making big impacts whilst Parrott and Fernandez look to have real talent.
Yet Lowe has made it clear that he wants a right wing back and another striker; he has been saying it all summer.
Here were are though, the final few days of the window and there isn’t so much of a sniff of a rumour about potential incomings.
If North End can’t get anything done, this goal-shy start to the season will start to feel like the reality of the coming months – and fans will feel that their belief in the club has been a little misplaced.