Huddersfield Town have already caused one massive shock this season beating Manchester United 2-1 at home. Now they bid to complete the double over the Manchester sides as they host league leaders Manchester City. The Yorkshire side start the weekend in tenth place but three points less and they’d be in 16th. People are waiting for their seemingly inevitable slip down into the relegation zone, but they manage to pick up the occasional win and if they can keep doing that, then their chances of survival are good.
Last weeks wasn’t so great though with a 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth. That’s their second 4-0 defeat since being promoted and they will do well to avoid another heavy beating this weekend. Their away form is a big worry with no goals scored since that opening day 3-0 win at Crystal Palace, so their home results are even more important until that form on their travels picks up.
Huddersfield have won their last two home matches, that surprising 2-1 win over United and a 1-0 beating of West Bromwich Albion. Overall, they have three home wins, a couple of draws and the 4-0 loss to Tottenham. Not that many goals are being scored by Huddersfield though with only five at home and those three away. Four of their six home games have seen under 2.5 goals scored but they’ll do well to make it five out of seven when Manchester City arrive in town.
Huddersfield will have defender Christopher Schindler available again. He missed the Bournemouth defeat after being sent off against West Bromwich Albion and if selected, he could be in for a very busy afternoon. A few more could be on their way with games against Arsenal and Chelsea among their next four fixtures, perhaps this is when the slide down the table begins.
Manchester City are eight points clear at the top of the table and the only unbeaten side in the Premier League. Their win at Leicester City on Saturday was their tenth straight victory in the league this season with 37 goals scored and just five conceded. The days when City struggled for points on their travels are well gone with seven consecutive away wins in the Premier League and a total of 21 goals scored and three conceded.
It’s the forward play of Manchester City that is so scary now. When you can afford to leave the likes of Aguero, Jesus and Sterling on the bench, the sheer strength of their squad is illustrated. Their defence probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves and only Manchester United have conceded less goals than them in the Premier League. They will be without John Stones for six weeks after he injured his thigh in the 2-0 win at Leicester City but at least Vincent Kompany is back, though he still looks an injury about to happen.
Conclusion
This looks a bit of a mis-match but the same was said before Huddersfield beat Manchester United. The home side haven’t exactly built on that big win and confidence will have been hit by the 4-0 loss to Bournemouth scoring once and conceding seven in their three following games. They can keep it tight and have only conceded 17 goals in 12 games but 11 of those were conceded in just three. Manchester City have Champions League duty in midweek but don’t have to travel and can leave some players out against Feyenoord. They can show their dominance by getting another away league game and there should also be over 2.5 goals in this match.
The Key Stats
Last Five Premier League Results – Most recent first
Huddersfield Town – LWLWL
Manchester City – WWWWW
Head to Head – Last Five League Meetings
18/02/00 – Huddersfield 1 Manchester City 1
27/11/99 – Manchester City 0 Huddersfield 1
03/03/98 – Huddersfield 1 Manchester City 3
07/11/97 – Manchester City 0 Huddersfield 1
18/01/97 – Huddersfield 1 Manchester City 1
- Manchester City have won their last ten league games.
- Manchester City have won their last seven away league games.
- 13 of the last 17 Manchester City league games have had over 2.5 goals scored in them.
- Huddersfield Town have lost four of their last six league games.
- Only Tottenham have won an away league game at Huddersfield this season.
- Huddersfield have only scored in two of their last eight league and cup games but won both those matches.
- Huddersfield Town held Manchester City to a home goalless draw in the FA Cup last season but lost the replay 5-1.