Huddersfield Town host Cardiff at the John Smith’s Stadium tonight and will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to 16 games. The win against Fulham at the weekend means Town will come into the game with their confidence sky high and maybe even a bit of a swagger. Cardiff are tough opponents though and will put up stiff opposition.
Carlos Corberán will have to decide whether to keep faith with the players that did so well at the weekend or to shuffle the pack and tailor his starting lineup to the particular challenges Cardiff present.
Here’s how I think Town will line up:
Goalkeeper: Lee Nicholls
There’s not a lot to say about Nicholls that hasn’t already been said. He is superb and is a huge part of Town’s success this season. So consistent, so calm, so good. He could literally throw the ball in his own net today and I’d still be calling for him to carry on as first choice at the weekend.
Defence: Thomas, Pearson, Lees, Colwill, Toffolo
The availability of Levi Colwill gives Carlos a conundrum. Surely he’s too good to leave out if he’s properly fit but who can you drop from a defensive unit that has been working so well. I think we need Colwill’s ability to bring the ball out from the back in this game so he should come back in to form a three with Lees and Pearson.
That means Toffolo and Sorba could be played as wingbacks and Turton has to settle for a place on the bench. This is extremely harsh on Turton after being very good against Fulham but he’s not as good as Colwill.
Midfield: Hogg, Russell, O’Brien
Another tricky choice for this game is whether to keep Russell, swap in Eiting or go back to a two-man midfield of Hogg and O’Brien. We’ve looked good with Russell in the middle of the park lately. Not just because he’s played well but because we’ve had a bit more control of games when we’ve had three central midfielders on the pitch (even if O’Brien was playing further forward against Fulham).
Carlos is spoilt for choice in midfield right now and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some rotation in this area tonight. Eiting in particular will be chomping at the bit to be involved and his silky passing could be useful if Cardiff prove stubborn to break down.
Attack: Ward, Holmes
Ward and Holmes were picked by The Examiner earlier this week for their contribution to Town’s current good run. Both have been scoring regularly and putting in huge amounts of effort in every game.
Comparing this Danny Ward to his first spell is like comparing two completely different players. While the accusations that the Lee Clark era Ward was far were not true, 2022 Ward is a lot leaner and seems more able to put in huge amounts of effort to help his team. Ward was a good player in his first spell but I always felt that personal glory was more important to him than the team’s and that’s just not true any more.
I speculated last season that Danny Ward’s body might not be up to the physical demands of murderball training sessions as he seemed unable to shake off a string of niggling injuries. Now it seems that the same training methods have helped him capture the best form of his career.
Duane Holmes has similarly overcome an indifferent 2020/21 season and found a rich vein of form lately. Whether he plays behind Ward, out wide or deeper in midfield isn’t clear but I suspect he’s likely to start tonight and most likely will be shifted around to suit whatever tactical tweaks the coaching team deem necessary.
Prediction: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Cardiff
This is the kind of game Town have previously lost but I think we’ve turned a corner lately and have a variety of ways to win matches. Against Fulham we dug in and hit them in the break. Tonight I think we’ll dominate possession and try to break Cardiff down.
I don’t expect an end to end game of free flowing football but I do expect to see two committed teams battling it out. Without Keiffer Morre, Cardiff have lost their talisman and will hopefully pose less of a threat. Regardless they’ll be physical and will make Town fight for anything they get out of this game.
Not sure if Carlos will stick or twist. Maybe he’ll stick to the same 4-3-3 that started vs Fulham and switch to your 3-5-2 if we need to find a way through later in the game? Feels so good to have options!
Eiting is a too good a player to leave on the bench and against Cardiff most likely coming to defend for large parts of the game a player like Eiting that can pick out a telling pass would be of great benefit ; I would leave out Hogg . The number of fouls per game he his guilty of outweighs most good part of his game he is overrated for me
No changes unless someone’s not fit. Colwill on the bench.