Huddersfield Town v Newcastle – Player ratings

Huddersfield Town played their first ever Premier League home game against Newcastle United and came out on top thanks to an Aaron Mooy strike. Town have won two out of two in the Premier League and find themselves second in the table.

It was another excellent performance from Town and the scores for the players reflect another good day’s work for the squad. Nobody had a bad performance and a few were exceptional. Let’s hope Town can keep up this level of quality for as long as possible.

Lössl – 8 out of 10

The game would have been completely different if Lössl didn’t make the brilliant, full-strength save from Matt Ritchie’s strike. His distribution was very good, again.

I’m delighted that a deal is in place to make his loan move permanent at the end of the season if we want to. He looks like a top-class keeper.
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Chris Löwe – 8 out of 10

He was one on one with Newcastle attackers on several occasions and didn’t give them anything. He also made a few last ditch tackles that stopped shots and crosses.

It seems like Löwe has adjusted quickly to life in the Premier League. Perhaps the arrival of Malone has meant he’s upped his game to keep his place in the first XI. Whatever the reason, Löwe looks classy at this level.
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Christopher Schindler – 9 out of 10

Superb. He read the game well, and regularly broke up Newcastle’s play with well-timed interventions. He was always in the right place and will have frustrated lots of Newcastle fans today.

He’s my pick for the man of the match. Mooy scored the goal, but Schindler did a lot of hard work further back to break up Newcastle attacks before they became dangerous. We could be fending off offers of £20m+ next summer.
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Zanka – 6 out of 10

I think Zanka is going to be a great player for us but today wasn’t a brilliant performance. He did plenty of things right but there were a few occasions where he made poor decisions. He got caught out of position, misplaced passes, and dribbled into trouble.

It’s not a concern that he wasn’t on top form, it was a tough game and he still looked solid despite a few errors. We’ve kept two clean sheets in our first two games with him in the team, so he must be doing something right.
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Tommy Smith – 6 out of 10

I think Smith is still recovering from the injury he sustained in the playoff final. He didn’t make as many of his trademark runs down the right-wing and seemed to be playing within himself at times.

If we had an alternative right-back then I think Smith would have probably been eased back into the first team more gently. The lack of cover means Wagner has little option but to play him. I suspect we’ll see a new arrival in this position very soon.
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Philip Billing – 7 out of 10

Close to an 8/10 performance, covered a lot of ground, made some good passes and made important tackles. Being the deep-lying midfielder isn’t his natural position but he’s stepped into Jonathan Hogg’s boots admirably. He’s more suited to the playmaker role taken by Mooy.

He might not have the same defensive abilities as Hogg but his range of passing is better and he helps us to retain possession in the opposition half. I’ve not always been a huge fan of Billing but it seems playing in the Premier League suits him more than the Championship. Perhaps the bigger stage gives him the motivation he sometimes seemed to be lacking last year.
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Aaron Mooy – 9 out of 10

In a tight game with few chances, you need players that can step up and produce a moment of magic. That’s what Mooy did for Town today. The reverse pass that started the one-two was sublime, his movement to get into position was excellent and the strike for the goal gets better every time I watch it.

Mooy provided two crosses that led to goals last weekend and this weekend he’s scored a wonder goal that won us the game, he’s amazing. He’s absolutely essential to Town. We should put him in one of those human-sized, inflatable hamster balls to make sure we can protect him from injury when he’s not on the pitch.
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Rajiv van La Parra – 7 out of 10

VLP deserved his place in the starting lineup after an impressive preseason. He carried the ball forward well today and Newcastle struggled to contain him at times. The way he can keep possession and bring the ball up the field gives us attacking threat but it also takes pressure off the defence because he’s moving the ball into areas where Newcastle can’t hurt us.

The classic criticism of van Le Parra is that he doesn’t have any end product. I thought he showed better decision making today and didn’t try to beat every player on the pitch. He also put in some decent crosses.

My only criticism about his decision making is that he sometimes slowed our attacks down with the number of stepovers and tricks he tried. They’re effective at times, but sometimes the ball could have been played earlier.
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Tom Ince – 7 out of 10

He played in all of the three positions behind the striker today, mostly in the number ten role. His workrate was impressive like it was against Crystal Palace last weekend. His direct running and persistence didn’t result in too many clear cut chances but they’ll come if he keeps this level of performance up.

He had a good chance to score early in the first-half but shot too close to the keeper. It’s good that he’s taking up positions where he gets these chances and it’s only a matter of time until he starts scoring in the Premier League for Town.
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Elias Kachunga – 7 out of 10

Kachunga linked up very well with Mooy for the goal and got forward well today. The partnership he formed with Smith last season isn’t quite firing yet this year, perhaps Smith’s lack of overlapping runs is meaning Kachunga has less support.

Kachunga is currently topping the Premier League’s tackling charts with 9 tackles in the first two games. I find this a bit odd, but it illustrates how hard he’s working for the team. Pressing high up the pitch and winning back possession has been a key feature of the two games this season, so Kachunga is clearly contributing a lot when we don’t have the ball.
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Steve Mounié – 7 out of 10

There weren’t a lot of clear cut chances for Mounié to latch on to today. Regardless he managed to make an impact on the game with tireless running and the excellent aerial ability. He cleared corners with his head, battled Newcastle’s defenders in the air, and made a nuisance of himself.

He was sublime against Crystal Palace, today he showed his value when the chances aren’t coming to him. While Mounié is a gifted talent, he’s also a beast. He niggled at Newcastle’s defenders and did a great job of spoiling their afternoon.
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Subs

Collin Quaner – 8 out of 10

The more I watch Collin play the more I love him. Big Col came on when we needed to manage the game, to limit Newcastle’s threat and retain our lead.

Quaner’s a real asset in these situations. He made a nuisance of himself and managed to take the pressure off the defence by holding possession in Newcastle’s half.

Kasey Palmer – 7 out of 10

Palmer didn’t get much of a chance to influence the game but he did put himself about well. It might be generous to give him a 7 when he didn’t do a lot, but he made a couple of tackles and interceptions that helped us close out the game.

Michael Hefele – Cameo

A time-wasting substitution in the final stages of the game. It was great to see Heff get the chance to play in the Premier League and he deserved the warm reception he received from the fans.