Everything you need to know about the Rotherham cup game

After two wins out of two in the Premier League, Town’s next game is against Rotherham in the Carabao Cup. The league cup has a new sponsor this year, but feel free to call it the Carling Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Worthington’s Cup or whatever else you fancy.

Here’s everything you need to know about this cup-tie against our near-neighbours in South Yorkshire.

Huddersfield Town v Rotherham United – Match details

Kick-off: 7.45PM, Wednesday 23 August 2017

Tickets: £8-£12 for adults, pay on the gate. For once there’s no need for Town fans to stress about getting in for this game. You can walk straight up without stressing about priorities.

Cup rules: The game will reach a conclusion on the night, so there’s the potential for extra-time and penalties. If we do get a penalty shootout, the order of penalty takers will follow the ABBA system. This involves the each team taking two penalties at a time after the initial one. I’m not sure it’s a good system, but it’s designed to offset the perceived advantage of taking the first penalty.

Weird next round draw: If Town manage to make it into the next round they’ll be part of the draw that takes place at 4:15 am on Thursday morning. The bizarre timing is because it takes place in Beijing, but even that’s weird because it will be 11:15 am local time and isn’t being broadcast on any TV station, just Twitter. Why not push it back to the afternoon in China? That way it would be a more civilised time in the UK. It feels like they’re deliberately courting controversy to get attention.

Likely lineup

There’s been a debate on the Down At The Mac forum about whether David Wagner will play his first team. Some argue that we should play the best available players because they’ll be fit enough to play twice a week at this stage of the season. Others, myself included, think it makes more sense to rotate the squad and give some other players a run-out.

I might be wrong, but I think Wagner will try to rest all of his starting XI from the Newcastle game. He said in his prematch press conference: “If you don’t have to make a player play three games in one week, then you don’t do it.”

Nothing much has changed with the squad since I wrote about whether Town have two players for every position, so I think Wagner will play a few youngsters to fill the gaps.

Edmonds-Green, O’Brien and Jordan Williams all featured in the first team friendlies in preseason, so I’d expect them to be most likely to come in. Regan Booty was promoted to the first team from the under-23s last season, so he may also be in with a chance.

Pre Match comments

Wagner talks about his desire to do well in the cups and to play at Wembley again (Spurs away aside) which is the right thing to say. I personally think he’ll always focus on the league first and cup games are a chance for him to give game time to fringe players.

With fewer league games in the Premier League it could be that Wagner chooses to play stronger teams in the cups this season but at this point, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Things to watch for

How many fans will turn up?

The League Cup isn’t a big draw and usually, Town struggle to get a big gate for these games. On the other hand, there’s a tremendous buzz about the club right now, so some of that enthusiasm might lead to more fans than usual turning up.

Somewhere around 5,000-6,000 would be typical for this kind of game. The last home game in the league cup was a 2-1 defeat against Notts County, with just 4,238 in attendance. I wonder if Town can get over 10,000 for this game? That might be a tad optimistic.

Will Depoitre start?

It was surprising to see Laurent Depoitre lose his place on the bench for the Newcastle game, to make way for Joe Lolley. I didn’t see any reference to him being injured, and he looked fine when he did his halftime interview. Reading between the lines of David Wagner’s recent comments I wonder if he thinks the Belgian hasn’t been training hard enough.

There was a rumour on the forums that he may be carrying too much weight, though I’m not sure there’s any substance to this talk (Dad joke alert though there’s clearly a lot of substance to Depoitre). I’m excited to see him play in a competitive game, so I hope Wagner gives him a chance.
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Will a backup right-back emerge?

I’m predicting that Jordan Williams will be given a chance at right-back against Rotherham. But whoever plays in that position must know there’s currently a gap in our squad to cover Tommy Smith.

While it’s likely Town will dip into the transfer market to get in a first-team quality right-back, if a current squad member can put in a performance it may tempt Wagner to trust the players he already has.

Will Town play their natural game?

Rotherham were in the same league as Town last season, but there are now two divisions separating the two clubs and the difference in quality within the two squads is more pronounced.

I wonder if David Wagner will set up team up to play free flowing, expansive football against lower-league opposition or whether he’ll look to fight them toe to toe. Last season’s FA cup run involved hard-fought victories against Rochdale and Port Vale. In those games, we scrapped alongside the opposition, rather than trying to play beautiful football.

Opposition info: Rotherham United

Last season was a dismal year for Rotherham United fans, they were relegated from the Championship with just 22 points, had three different managers over the course of the season, and were seen as a bit of a laughing stock. Their life in League One hasn’t started particularly well either, with them losing two of their first three games in the league and getting knocked out of the tinpot cup by Man City reserves.

Paul Warne has admitted that he intends to rotate his team for this game, so it’s likely to be two weakened sides we see. Rotherham face Charlton in League One at the weekend and that game is clearly a higher priority to him.

I’d expect a tough game from Rotherham, with Warne setting his team up to fight hard and try to upset the rhythm of our game. Town will then have the choice of whether to mix it up with their opponents or try to play around them.
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Town’s history against Rotherham

Town have played Rotherham 55 times in the past, winning 28, losing 11 and drawing 16. So history favours Town in this fixture, though it’s what happens on the night that matters, not the games we won or lost in the fifties.

The most recent meeting was last season, where Town took six points from Rotherham in the Championship. It was a torrid year for Rotherham but they were tough opponents in the games they had against us.

The home game in September last year finished 2-1 to Town, with Kachunga and Wells scoring either side of a Danny Ward equaliser. Our visit to Rotherham in February this year ended up 3-2 to Town, with Rotherham pushing us all the way. A 90th-minute goal from Tommy Smith gave Town the points in a game they could easily have lost.

Terrier Spirit prediction: 4-2 to Town

Rotherham were a poor side last season. It seems like they’ve improved their squad over the summer, but not in the same way Town have strengthened since promotion. I expect the second-string players Wagner puts out will be desperate to put in a good performance and will look to dominate the game.

I’m hoping it’ll be an open game, with Town dominating possession and hopefully creating plenty of chances. I think we’ll potentially let a few in too, because the defence is likely to be a bit rusty. Hopefully plenty of goals and a chance for Town’s fringe players to stake a claim for a starting position in the Premier League games.

I’ve always quite liked the league cup. It’s less pressure and a chance to see some of the players that aren’t currently getting much game time. I think whatever team Wagner fields there’ll be a fighting attitude. There’s a winning mentality throughout the club right now, and that won’t change just because it’s the league cup against lower-league opposition.