Preston North End set to face toughest task of season against Vincent Kompany's Burnley

They will face the league leaders who look set to earn their place back in the Premier League this season.

The Clarets are the runaway side at the top of the Championship having already opened up a seven point gap on their nearest rival Sheffield United and a mammoth 17 points gap on third place, meaning that automatic promotion at lease is looking very likely for Vincent Kompany’s men.

It is a sign of some sterling work done in East Lancashire, where recruitment has gone very well but so has the risk taken on their boss.

Kompany was untested in England as a coach and aside from a spell as player-manager, then just as manager at Anderlecht, the Belgian was relatively inexperienced.

He lost just 18 times in his 92 games back in his home country before moving to Turf Moor and has gone from strength to strength after returning back to England, where he made his name as a player being one of the most important figures in Machester City’s rise to dominance over the past decade.

With Burnley having recently been pigeon-holed as a direct side that do not play much in the way of attractive, attacking football in recent years, it couldn’t be further from the truth now.

Kompany has his side playing an expansive game, in a fluid formation that generally stems from a 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 that is all about controlling the ball and therefore the match.

They were victims of their own style at Deepdale in the reverse fixture, the away side on the night were far superior with the ball at their feet but were too methodical in their appraoch and failed to break North End down enough. Both sides scored from set pieces in a 1-1 draw in PR1.

Their threats are spread out around their side but Burnley do have a core of players peforming regularly and at a very high level. They are wihtout first choice goalkeeper Aro Muric and cente back Taylor Harwood-Bellis – both of whom have been amongst the best in their position this season – but have enough depth in their squad to carry on regardless.

Josh Brownhill and Josh Cullen have been important for them at the heart of their midfield, the former an ex-PNE academy graduate who is capable of playing in either the deeper or more attacking role.

Stalwarts Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez are still delivering at Turf Moor, the latter is their joint top scorer alongside summer signing Nathan Tella with nine goals.

Burnley’s position at the top of the table is not one by chance, but it has been helped by their ability to spend. A combination of Premier League parachute payments and player sales have allowed the Clarets to reinvest. Michael Obafemi and Lyle Foster were two high profile striking options acquired in January, so too was defender Hjalmar Ekdal apparently, as he scored on his debut.

Kompany’s men have yet to lose at Turf Moor this season, so PNE must do what no other side has done so far and turn them over in their own back yard. Burnley are top when it comes to the home table but when it comes to aways, North End are third and have been performing well on their travels. Top of the away table? Burnley, again. It’s a tough test but one that North End must face head on.