Sydie Peck's hat-trick turned Preston's early lead into defeat
Preston2 – 3Sheffield Utd 
Sheffield Utd won 3-2 at Deepdale after Preston had led inside two minutes, and their attack did the damage.
Sydie Peck scored three times in eighteen minutes, and by half-time Sheffield Utd had turned a game Preston had been leading into one they were winning. Leo Leroy had put Preston ahead inside two minutes, set up by Andrija Vukčević, and for a while the home side looked capable of holding that advantage. Peck struck at 27, 37 and 45 minutes, the last of them on the stroke of the interval. Callum Lang pulled one back for Preston at 76, but Sheffield Utd held on for a 3-2 win.
Sheffield Utd did not simply take the chances that came their way, because they also had far more of the ball than usual. They held 62% of possession, which is the share of time a side spends with the ball, against an average of 43.4% in away games. That control came with 16 shots, well above the 9.8 they average on the road and the league norm of 13.3 per side. Keeping the ball and getting it into dangerous places went hand in hand.
Ball possession
Expected goals, a measure of how good a chance was based on where it was taken from and how it was struck, put Sheffield Utd at 1.96. That is a long way above their usual away figure of 1.12, so the quality of their attacks rose along with the volume. Only five of those 16 efforts were on target, which makes the finishing the real story. Peck took three of the five on target and scored with every one.
Preston were a different sort of side in the same game. They managed only six shots, below their home average of 10.4, and held 38% of the ball, close to their usual 40.3%. Their expected goals reached 0.96, however, which is above what they normally create at Deepdale, meaning the few chances they had were better than usual. Leroy's early goal and Lang's late one were the moments that mattered most for them.
Preston's own defence had a harder night than their form suggests they should. The chances they gave up were measured above their usual level for conceding at home, which is why the scoreline ran away from them so quickly. Sheffield Utd, meanwhile, were better in front of goal than they had been on the road for some time. Peck's three goals were enough to settle it, and the rest of the match carried little weight after the interval.
Five goals in all is above the league norm of three per match, so this was an open, high-scoring game by the standards of the division. Preston scored two, against a home average of 0.8, and conceded three, against a home usual of 2. Sheffield Utd scored three against an away average of 1.2, which shows how much of their usual threat was on display. The match was not ordinary for either side.
Preston have now won one of their thirteen home games this season. Sheffield Utd have won five of their thirteen away matches, a record that has pushed them up the table more than their form at home would suggest.
Sydie Peck3 goals
B. Brereton1 assist
L. Leroy1 goal
R. Donovan1 assist