It’s clear that home form is the key to whether Huddersfield Town can survive in the Premier League. At the weekend, they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 to win their third home league game out of their last four. They face a tough task against Chelsea who need to bounce back from their 1-0 loss at West Ham on Saturday.
Huddersfield Town have failed to score an away league goal since they won 3-0 at Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season. Goals and away points are a rarity these days, so they must keep winning at home to keep clear of the bottom three. Basically, they are in the same boat as Burnley were last season when home form kept in the Premier League.
Town have won three of their last four home league games and the other saw them nearly get a point against league leaders Manchester City. They have already beaten Manchester United at home but were well beaten by Tottenham losing 4-0. Now they have to test themselves against the might of Morata, Hazard and Fabregas, if selected.
It’s a crucial period for Huddersfield and they begin it five points clear of the bottom three. After this match, they have a run of seven games against sides currently outside of the top five. The more points they can earn in the coming weeks the better as they move into 2018. The fact that Steve Mounié scored twice on Saturday, his first goals since the opening day, is a move in the right direction and that was only the fourth time this season they have scored twice or more in a league game.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte believes his side has no chance of winning the Premier League title after losing 1-0 to West Ham on Saturday. That was their fourth league defeat of the season compared to five when winning the title last season. Only a collapse by the Manchester clubs would see Chelsea get back into the title race and that doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.
Their boss is worried about the number of games his side is having to face and including this trip to Huddersfield they have six games to play before the end of the year. It’ll be interesting to see what team Conte puts out for this game. He played his big guns against West Ham and there’s the chance the likes of Rudiger, Moses, Willian and Pedro might see some action in this trip to Huddersfield.
Conclusion
Huddersfield Town will survive only if they get lots of points at home and somehow improve their away form. After a series of defeats, the win over Brighton and Hove Albion should give them plenty of confidence. They have done well against some of the top sides so won’t fear Chelsea. Their opponents need to bounce back from that defeat at West Ham. A title challenge looks unlikely so it’s mainly a case now of trying to win a cup and ensuring they finish in the top four. Chelsea could do a spot of squad rotation for this match but should still have enough strength and experience to get the away win.
The Key Stats
Last Five Premier League Results – Most recent first
Huddersfield Town – WLLLL
Chelsea – LWWDW
Head to Head – Last Five League Meetings
04/02/1984 – Chelsea 3 Huddersfield Town 1
01/10/1983 – Huddersfield Town 2 Chelsea 3
08/01/1972 – Chelsea 2 Huddersfield Town 2
28/08/1971 – Huddersfield Town 1 Chelsea 2
20/03/1971 – Chelsea 0 Huddersfield Town 0
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six league games against Huddersfield Town.
- Huddersfield Town have failed to win any of their last five home league and cup games against Chelsea.
- Huddersfield Town have just six points from their last seven Premier League games.
- Huddersfield Town have conceded 13 goals in their last five league games.
- Both teams have scored in only one of the last seven Huddersfield Town league games.
- Huddersfield Town have scored in each of their last four home league games.
- Huddersfield Town have won three of their last four Premier League home games.
- Defeat at West Ham ended a run of seven league games without defeat for Chelsea.
- Chelsea have scored in eight of their last nine Premier League matches.
- Chelsea have scored in nine of their last ten away Premier League games and 15 of the last 17.
- Chelsea have conceded in each of their last three league and cup games.