Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup, what to expect from Bristol and score prediction for tonight’s game

Huddersfield Town take on Bristol City tonight in a bid to register their first away win of their season and to claw their way out of the relegation zone. It won’t be an easy task though as Bristol City are enjoying some good form at the moment and are undefeated in their last six league and cup games.

It feels like every team we play this season has a former ghost from our past that comes back to haunt us. This time out it is Nahki Wells that will no doubt play out of his skin and remind us of what we are missing and maybe make Leigh Bromby start to wonder if a second spell might be worth considering (he’s given enough other Town old boys another chance!).

Anyway, here’s my preview of tonight’s game…

Predicted Huddersfield Town starting XI to take on Bristol City

Tom Lees suspension is over tonight so he can come straight back in and I don’t think Rarmani Edmonds-Green can have any complaints about the more experienced man taking his place. Lees should be in good spirits too as he’s just signed a bumper contract extension that will see him continue as a Terrier until he is 35. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to commit to keep players around into their old age but it’s hard to argue after he has done so well for the club last season and provided good leadership both on and off the field. 

The only other likely change I can foresee is Jon Russell being dropped after another lacklustre showing in the middle of the park. Jonathan Hogg would be the ideal replacement but his first training session after his minor injury was only yesterday so I doubt he’ll be risked. Kasumu is nearing fitness too but also isn’t ready for selection so that leaves Etienne Camara who I really like the look of but is also a bit wet behind the ears. He clearly has ability but plays like a youth player, taking a few too many risks and expecting a bit too much time on the ball than the pace of the Championship allows. I expect he’ll tighten up with experience but it could be costly while he’s on this learning curve. But, Jon Russell keeps making more costly errors despite the fact he’s old enough to know better, so I’d prefer to see us take a chance of Camara as he at least has the mobility and work rate that Russell lacks.

Other than that, I think we’ll keep the same lineup that we had against West Brom at the weekend. Hopefully Pat Jones will return to the bench. Tyreece Simpson hasn’t been announced yet, so obviously he won’t be in contention.  

Goalkeeper: Nicholls

Defence: Kesler-Heydon, Turton, Lees, Nakayama, Ruffels

Midfield: Anjorin, Camara, Rudoni, Thomas

Forward: Ward

What to expect from Bristol

Bristol are a high scoring team at the moment, having put three past Blackpool in their 3-3 draw last weekend, another three in the league cup against Wycombe, two against Cardiff, two against Luton, only one against Wigan but hammering four past Coventry in their most recent games. That’s 2.5 goals per game, which is far higher than Town’s not too shabby 1.6 goals per game they’ve managed in their 5 competitive games so far this season. 

Bristol tend to play two strikers, the familiar face of Nahki Wells, partnered by Andreas Weimann, with youngster Tommy Conway a potential option too. They like to provide their strikers with through balls to chase down and tend to play on the counter. As their recent scoring record shows, they are clinical finishers and tend to create a decent number of chances.

Onto areas that Town can exploit, Bristol have a tendency to struggle to defend leads (we know how that feels), allow their opponents to create too many chances, struggle with high balls, make individual errors, are weak down their flanks and are vulnerable on set pieces.

All the above analysis comes courtesy of the statistics site, WhoScored.com, which you can probably take with a pinch of salt but I find to be fairly accurate on the whole. My impression from looking into them is that Bristol are similar to Town in that they have lots of positives but also have plenty of weaknesses that can be exploited. Only it seems Bristol have done a better job lately of getting out of their own way in their recent games.

Score prediction: Bristol City 3 – 3 Huddersfield Town

Both Town and Bristol City have a tendency to want to attack but then to leave the back door open which means this game should, in theory, be a free for all of attacking football. While I hope, in time, Town learn to shut the back door and get back to keeping clean sheets, I think the in short term we’re going to have to win games by outscoring the opposition. Tonight we’re up against a team that is in prolific form so I having a feeling that a draw might be the best we can hope for.

Under Danny Schofield Huddersfield Town have developed a bit of a soft underbelly, with many of the goals we concede being down to poor organisation at the back. This is a real shame as the cornerstone of last season’s achievements was the solid defensive set up that let in very few goals. Having said that, we had a very settled defensive lineup for the important stages of last season and Schofield is constantly having to tinker with his defensive lineup for one reason or another. When a settled back four or five emerges and gets used to playing together we’ll no doubt start to develop a better understanding, but for now we’re looking a bit dodgy at the back, so I can’t see us shutting out a potent attack like Bristol City’s tonight.

Going forward I feel a bit more optimistic. Jack Rudoni is due a goal soon from midfield and is getting closer to scoring every game, Danny Ward always carries a threat, Anjorin showed his danger at the weekend, Thomas is a constant supply of quality dead balls and improved his supply from open play against West Brom too. Then there are wild cards like Pat Jones that can come off the bench and add a bit of magic too. So I think we’ve got the players that can create the opportunities.