Opposition Focus: Huddersfield Town

Form

26/12/18 – Man Utd 3-1 Huddersfield 
22/12/18 – Huddersfield 1-3 Southampton 
15/12/18 – Huddersfield 0-1 Newcastle Utd
08/12/18 – Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield 
04/12/18 – Bournemouth 2-1 Huddersfield 

Tactics

Huddersfield tend to play with a variety of formations, primarily adjusting for their opponents, but most commonly have used a 3-4-1-1 this season. Some would argue its use considering the losing record it holds for the side. In order to pile on the pressure, Huddersfield will not shift out of this formation defensively. We faced a high aggression team last time, and it will not be a surprise to see the same sort of behaviour. With this strategy, they can clog the middle of the field, but the team struggles in the opponent’s defensive third and ultimately finishing their chances due to the absence of clinical striker on the team. 

Battle to Watch

Calum Chambers vs Phillip Billing: The last time we faced Huddersfield, Calum Chambers was on the bench. We lost to an own goal by Fosu-Mensah, and Billing, paired with Hogg and Mooy, dominated our midfield against Anguissa, Seri and Cairney. Without putting too much on Chambers’ shoulders, it will be a dogfight in the middle of the pitch when Chambers faces Billing. Both young players with something to prove and both can make a difference with their ability to appear anywhere on the pitch. 

Danger Man

Lacking any kind of scoring threat makes it tough to choose a danger man in the traditional sense. However, for all the free roaming that Billing does, there is a need for consistency and solidarity, which comes in the form of Jonathan Hogg. Hogg keeps things simple and is very much a traditional defensive midfielder. In a congested 5-man midfield, he is the one who keeps the ball moving to find the threatening players. As someone who has that capability, Hogg can fly under the radar in creating chances, similar to how Mark Noble did against us for West Ham not too long ago. 

Last 5 Meetings

05/11/18 – Huddersfield 1-0 Fulham (PL)
22/04/17 – Huddersfield 1-4 Fulham (C’ship)
29/10/16 – Fulham 5-0 Huddersfield (C’ship)
16/01/16 – Huddersfield 1-1 Fulham (C’ship)
22/08/15 – Fulham 1-1 Huddersfield (C’ship)

Head-to-Head

Fulham wins 25
Draws 16
Huddersfield wins 26

Players in Common

Gary Barnett, Pat Beasley, Danny Cadamarteri, James Husband, Mark Hudson, Scott Malone, Brian Mcdermott, Oliver Norwood, Jazz Richards, Dale Tempest, Robert Wilson.

Magic Moment

It wasn’t always smooth sailing, pretty football during our 4-year spell in the Championship but even in the bleaker years, there were always sparks of quality to keep us entertained. This time it was Lasse Vigen Christensen who produced a lovely goal when we beat Huddersfield 3-1 at the Cottage in 2014. The Danish midfielder was in great form and becoming a necessity in an otherwise struggling Fulham side. After receiving the return ball on the edge of the box from a one-two pass with Hugo Rodallega, LVC nutmegged his opponent with the perfect amount of precision to ensure he could beat the keeper to the loose ball, dink it over him and into the onion bag in front of the Hammersmith End. A fantastic piece of skill!

Opposition View (@takesthatchance)

We are close to the halfway point of the season. How do you feel about your chances of staying up?

I can’t see an outcome that ends with us staying up at the moment due to our inability to score goals. Defensively we have been good but the defence are always under massive pressure to be perfect due to our profligacy.

With hindsight, do you think you are struggling this season because the squad overachieved last season or because your summer business wasn’t strong enough?

We definitely overachieved, no doubt about that. We were favourites to get relegated to League 1 the season we came up so the jump to being able to stay in the Prem was seismic.

Regarding the summer recruitment, hindsight is a great thing but it clearly wasn’t good enough looking at it now. We signed 3 wingers to add to the 3 we already have and play without any of them!! Depoitre looks like a shadow of his former self… A BIG and immobile shadow.

Do you enjoy being in the Premier League?

Yes and no. It’s great seeing us up against the best but we are derided by many uninformed whoppers who call themselves experts, which has gone beyond frustrating to just an expected and boring narrative. I was delighted to see us in the Prem, loved every minute last season but, as bad as it sounds, I wouldn’t be upset if we went down. The club is on a sound financial footing, the infrastructure is improving day on day and we are set for a good future. Oh, and I miss having the midweek games.

Which position is a priority in the January window and how many players do you expect to sign?

A creative midfielder, at least one striker and cover in CM because with Mooy missing we will struggle. We need 3/4 in but only time will tell if we will get them.

Score Prediction – We always get beaten at Craven Cottage. Our defence & midfield with Fulham’s attack would be a good side. Home win to nil.

Predicted line-up – (5-3-1-1) Lossl, Durm, Zanka, Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe, Hogg, Billing, Bacuna, Pritchard, Mounié.

Thanks to Neil Waine from Huddersfield fans podcast ‘And He Takes That Chance.’

Match Prediction

If there was any match that led to the most frustration and sense of giving up, it was the match away to Huddersfield in November where we lost 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Timothy Fosu-Mensah on a corner. We were bossed in the midfield and left Mitrovic isolated to face their defenders head-on. I believe there has been a significant change in our team dynamic as of late, and feel that this will be a proving point on what exactly we are going to need in the January transfer window. With Huddersfield’s lack of a striker’s presence, I can see Ranieri aggressively pushing the counter-attack. It will be time to break through their congestion and serve up some goal scoring as we enter the New Year, 3-0 comfortable victory with goals from Chambers, Schurrle and Mitro. COYW! 

Predicted Line-up

(4-2-3-1): GK Rico, RB Christie, RCB Mawson, LCB LeMarchand, LB Bryan, LDM Seri, RDM Chambers, LMF Sessegnon, AMF Schurrle, RMF Cairney, FW Mitrovic