Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Fulham

Huddersfield Town face their toughest test of the season today when the take on Fulham at Craven Cottage. We tend to perform poorly whenever we play Fulham away and this season we’re up against the best team in the Championship with a striker that is far too good for this level.

So it’s going to be a tough day’s work for the Terriers and we will have to be at our best to get anything out of the game. But we’re unbeaten in 14 games and have a track record of being hard to beat this season. After two consecutive nil nils many fans will be hoping for goals but I think another goalless draw would be a decent point for Town.

Here’s how I think Town will line up.

Goalkeeper – Lee Nicholls

One comment I’ve heard about Lee Nicholls this season has been that he’s not made that many amazing saves, just lots of saves you’d expect him to make. He put that criticism to bed last week with a superb fingertip save to push the ball against the post when Sheffield United seemed certain to score. I’d also add that all goalkeepers are good shot stoppers because that’s literally their job but there’s a much broader set of skills required to perform well. Nicholls might not be the best kicker of the ball but he organises his back line very well, makes excellent decisions and has an uncanny knack of being in the right pace at the right time which all reduce the need for spectacular saves.

Defence: Turton, Pearson, Lees, Ruffels

Pipa is ruled out for today so the decision at rightback is fairly straightforward. Even if the Spaniard was available, Turton might have been a smart choice for his additional defensive solidity. 

Pearson and Lees have become a steady pairing in central defence during Colwill’s injury absence. Carlos said there was a possibility that Colwill might return today if he came through the final training session before the game without problem. I suspect we won’t throw him straight back into the starting lineup though given he’s now been out for quite a while.

Harry Toffolo has been the first choice leftback at whatever club he’s been at for a number of years, so it will have stung his pride to be on the bench last week despite being fully fit and available. Now Ruffels has been given a chance and done a decent job, I think he might keep his spot. He looks a bit more reliable in defence than Toffolo and is stronger in the air, which means he might be suited to this game in particular as we may have to do a lot of defending.

Midfield: Russell, Hogg, O’Brien

While it’s important to not get carried away about young players that are taking their first steps in professional football, Jon Russell is clearly a footballing messiah and will deliver Huddersfield Town to the promised land. OK, he’s not that good, but he’s done a decent job in the chances he’s been given. His physical bulk, confidence on the ball and eye for a pass mean we’ve got someone that can play that deep lying playmaker role that we’ve wanted for a long term. Whether Russell is capable of consistently performing this role is not yet clear but I hope he’s given another chance today.

Playing Russell in a midfield three also allows Hogg to sit a bit deeper and assist the back two more. Hogg had one of his best games of the season against Sheffield United and I believe that was because he was in his natural role, dropping deep to make a back three in possession but snapping forward and breaking up play when defending. We’ll most likely have our backs to the wall for long periods today, so Hogg should be in his element.

Lewis O’Brien is likely to be playing at a higher level in the future and will want to prove he can mix it with the best teams. Fulham present the stiffest competition in this league at the moment so it will be interesting to see how he does. You would have to go right back to the start of the season to find a game where O’Brien hasn’t performed, so he could be the player that we look to in this game to make things happen.

Forwards: Thomas, Ward, Holmes 

While I’m listing Thomas and Holmes as forwards in this lineup, they’ll most likely be most like midfielders that occasionally push up, particularly on the break. Both have good work rates and will have to track their fullbacks as well as trying to get forward and attack. 

Josh Koroma was widely panned for his performance last weekend so will surely make way for Holmes, who has been one of our key players during this unbeaten run. This is the kind of game where Koroma’s ability to dribble with speed and control would be handy but he looks too low in confidence and form to continue to be selected.

Someone that never seems to be short of confidence is Sorba Thomas, who has recently been both excellent and rubbish from one minute to the next in games. His touch occasionally lets him down but when it doesn’t he can be our most dangerous player. Regardless of how he’s doing in open play, his set piece deliveries are still good even if we’ve not been converting them to goals as regularly as we were earlier in the season.

It’s not really a debate about which striker starts at the moment. Ward will get the nod and Rhodes will most likely feature from the bench at some point. Many fans, myself included, would like to see what Ward and Rhodes can do together but today isn’t likely to be the day we see caution thrown to the wind and two out-and-out strikers playing together.