It’s been a busy week for Town since beating Newcastle United last Sunday. We signed Sabiri, beat Rotherham in the league cup, and signed Hadergjonaj on loan. Now attention turns back to the Premier League, as Town host Southampton in their biggest challenge of the season so far.
Huddersfield Town v Southampton – Match details
Kickoff: 3 pm, Saturday 25 August 2017 – That’s right, another 3 o’clock kickoff in the Premier League. Being unglamorous has its advantages.
Ticket availability: Southampton requested a smaller allocation, so Town have more tickets than usual for the south stand. At the time of writing, it’s still possible to buy tickets but it may sell out before kickoff.
Likely lineup
Wednesday’s 2-1 league cup win against Rotherham didn’t see any of Town’s second string make a strong claim to be included for the Southampton game. Most of the fringe players looked rusty and it was a laboured victory. For that reason, I’m going to predict an unchanged team from the Newcastle game.
Rajiv van La Parra might make way for Kasey Palmer, but given that VLP was rested on Wednesday and Palmer wasn’t, I think it’ll be unchanged. New signings Sabiri and Hadergjonaj are unlikely to be involved, given they only arrived this week.
Wells, Craine, Hogg and Stankovic are all still out injured, but there shouldn’t be any other injury worries.
David Wagner’s pre-match comments
Wagner was keen to stress the step up in quality Southampton represent and predicts they’ll be a top ten team this season. He also emphasised the need for the crowd to help make the John Smith’s Stadium a fortress this season. I’m sure we’ll all want to help with this.
4 things to watch out for in the Southampton game
What tactics will David Wagner use?
So far Wagner has stuck to his promise of continuing to play the “Terriers identity” type of football that got us promoted. He varies the approach depending on the opponent but both the Newcastle and Crystal Palace games saw us playing a high pressing game.
We played a more counter-attacking game against Palace and slowed the game down with possession more with Newcastle but it was clearly the Huddersfield way of playing in both games.
Against Southampton, it will be interesting to see how attacking we are. If it was away from home I’d expect us to sit a bit deeper and have less possession. But at the John Smith’s Stadium, I think we’ll want to attack and get the fullbacks overlapping down the wings.
How good will Southampton look?
This game should be a good yardstick to measure our team against. Southampton are a good footballing side. If we can match them then there are very few teams in this league we should fear outside of the top six.
If we get played off the park it won’t be the end of the world. We don’t have to be better than Southampton to stay up. However, if we can get something from the game it’s a promising sign for the rest of the season.
Will Tommy Smith recapture his form?
Tommy Smith hasn’t been awful in the first two games, but he hasn’t been as good as he was last season. I doubt he would have been rushed back from injury so quickly if Hadergjonaj had arrived during preseason. As it is, he’ll get another chance to prove himself against Southampton.
If Smith struggles then Flo might come into consideration for the West Ham game. It would be a shame to drop the captain but at this level, we need every player performing at their best.
Will Mooy finish 90 minutes?
Australia play Japan away next Thursday and Thailand at home the following Tuesday. So while most of our squad will get a rest and more time on the training pitch, Mooy will travel the world.
Last season Wagner managed Mooy’s energy levels well and was careful in how much he used him close to international breaks. It might be sensible to substitute Mooy early in the second half and give Danny Williams a run in midfield.
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Opposition info: Southampton
Southampton are regarded as one of the best teams outside the top six or seven in the Premier League. They don’t have the squad to compete with the Champions League chasing clubs but are the best of the rest.
New boss Mauricio Pellegrino is still bedding in on the south coast, but Southampton are a well-run club and have managed to play well under a series of different managers in recent years.
Southampton have four points from their opening two fixtures, after drawing with Swansea and beating West Ham. Their most recent game saw them knocked out of the league cup with a 2-0 defeat and the hands of Wolverhampton Wanders. So it isn’t just Town that struggled in the league cup this week.
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Player to watch: Oriol Romeu
Southampton’s defensive midfield Oriol Romeu is their most influential player. In the first two games of the Premier League season he’s averaged over 90 passes a game with an 87.8% success rate. He’s the heartbeat of their midfield.
Town v Southampton history
Southampton and Huddersfield have only played each other 24 times before. The record is perfectly balanced at 11 wins each and two draws since the first meeting in 1952.
The most recent meeting of the two teams came in 2011 in the third tier of English football, with Southampton beating us at St Mary’s Stadium 4-1. Looking back on the respective squads, it’s clear to see why Southampton had such a meteoric rise up the leagues.
Here are a few of the players Southampton had in League One:
- Morgan Schneiderlin
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
- Adam Lallana
- Rickie Lambert
For comparison purposes, Town had Peter Clarke, Antony Kay, Alan Lee and Lee Novak in their starting eleven that day.
Terrier Spirit prediction: 1-1 draw
Southampton present a step up in quality from our games against Newcastle and Crystal Palace. It’s a chance for us test ourselves against one of the better footballing sides in the league and I think we’ll do well.
I don’t think we’ll win though. While we’ve proved ourselves to good enough to compete in the Premier League, I think Southampton might be too good for us to beat. I hope I’m wrong but a draw would be a good result from this game.
It’s probably going to be a tight game, so the outcome of the game could depend on a few key moments. If we keep up our performance level from the first two games we could sneak a win.
Games aren’t won on quality – it’s who does best on the day, and even if it’s evenly matched, a draw is likely. Why not aim for the win? We can beat anyone and the Premier League is the best in Europe for shocks, and with the confidence, it could sneak us the win.