Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Millwall today

Apologies for the recent radio silence on the blog. A hectic few weeks in my personal life have meant that my opportunities to write about Town have been limited. At least things have gone relatively smoothly while I’ve been out of action, as Town sit just outside the top-six as part of a large clump of mid-table Championship teams on the same number of points.

Town entertain Millwall this afternoon, another one of the seven teams with 21 points on the board. It should be a decent battle between two teams that have done fairly well so far this season. Millwall, as always, will provide a tough physical presence and Town will have to decide if they want to mix it with them or try to play around them. 

Here’s how I think we’ll line up this afternoon:

Goalkeeper: Lee Nicholls

Signing MK Dons’ second choice keeper seemed like a fairly uninspiring acquisition when he was announced but he’s quickly shown he’s capable of doing a job at this level and has been one of our most consistent performers this season. Which is good because Schofield’s drop in form and subsequent injury niggles mean Nicholls is the only available goalkeeper in the squad that’s old enough to get served at an off licence.

Defence: Pearson, Lees, Colwill

Naby Sarr stepped in last weekend against Bournemouth to cover Colwill’s yellow card totting up suspension and reminded me of exactly why he’s been usurped by the Chelsea loanee. He was ponderous on the ball once more and looked like he was on the verge of doing something daft whenever he had the ball. Colwill might be a lot younger than Sarr but he’s a much less risky option despite his frequent kamikaze raids forward with the ball at his feet. I expected the left side of defence to be an intriguing battle between these two this season but it’s really no contest and we’re instantly a better team with Colwill coming back in.

Tom Lees and Matty Pearson might not be perfect but I think the back line has really benefited from the mostly settled lineup. Last season we were forced to regularly chop and change due to injury and form but we look a lot more solid because of the consistency we’ve seen. Lees does a good job of mopping up and filling in as the central of the three and Pearson, while limited on the ball, tends to make his tackles stick and adds a bit of steel to our defence.

Midfield: Thomas, Hogg, O’Brien, Toffolo

Sorba Thomas has played more than any other Town player this season, as well as representing his country when other players get a rest in the international breaks. So it’s not a huge surprise that he’s looked a bit leggy lately. With no midweek game this last week he will have had a full week to recharge his batteries and the lack of better options means we really need him to play today. The alternative right wingback would be Turton, which I think most fans would rather not see.

Hogg and O’Brien will continue in midfield. Both are well suited to getting stuck into a side like Millwall, particularly Hoggy. There most likely won’t be a lot of room to operate, so Hogg will have to move the ball quickly to avoid getting caught in possession and O’Brien may have to drift into wide areas to get into space.

O’Brien has steadily improved as the season has gone on. He’s still not regularly chipping in with goals like I think he could do but otherwise he’s got better in most areas. He’s more and more influential in games and is looking more assured on the ball. Whether he’s good enough to step up to the Premier League is still debatable to me and I’d prefer to see him develop his game at Town for a bit longer rather than leave in the January window.  

Like Sorba Thomas, Harry Toffolo has dipped in recent games and isn’t reaching the levels he is capable of hitting. I wonder if this is because of the long-lasting effects of coronavirus, as his fitness levels have been impeccable prior to his illness. Or it could just be one of those hard to explain dips in form. Josh Ruffels is ready and waiting to jump in when needed but I doubt we’ll see him just yet, other than as an option on the bench. Though that could change if Toffolo continues to put in sub-par performances.

Attack: Sinani, Ward, Koroma

I like Duane Holmes and have been impressed by some of his performances this season but I’ve also been underwhelmed by others. The same could be said for Sinani too but I feel like he’s got a little bit more quality on the ball and can produce a killer pass from either open play or a set piece situation. There’s not much to pick between the two for the right side of the attacking trident but I think Carlos will opt for Sinani after benching him last weekend.

There’s a similarly tricky choice for the central striker with Campbell and Ward both being relatively equal in the pecking order. Ward is the more direct goal threat and gives us more presence at the top end of the pitch, whereas Campbell typically doesn’t get into as many goal-scoring situations but grafts off the ball like nobody’s business. For home games where we want to dominate the game and finish chances I would prefer Ward and tricky away games where we expect to mostly defend it makes sense to prefer Campbell.

I’m not keen on dropping Koroma despite the fact he’s not firing on all cylinders currently. The fact is that he can step infield and curl a shot into the top corner even when he’s not at his best and very few players in our squad are capable of scoring with such ease. For that reason alone he has to play.

Prediction: Town 0-1 Millwall

I don’t like predicting defeat for Town but I’ve got a bad feeling about this game. I expected us to be beaten by Bournemouth last weekend and it’s fair to say that we were better than our previous visit to the Vitality Stadium but I’m a bit concerned about Town’s current form. Despite picking up points, Town were poor against both Hull and Birmingham, which means it’s at least three consecutive games of not playing well and we’re struggling to create decent chances. 

I’m also concerned about the number of players that have recently suffered a drop in form. Too many of our regular starters have gone off the boil at once and it makes it hard to play good football. Today could be the day that it all turns around but I worry that we could be at the start of a slump rather than at the end of one. I have a suspicion this pessimism is a natural consequence of our better than expected start to the season, I can’t cope with things going well so assume the wheels are about to come off.

Millwall are a tricky proposition for Town as they will be rough and tumble all over the pitch, won’t let us settle on the ball and they have a sprinkling of quality up front that can hurt us if we’re not careful. They’re not world beaters but they provide the kind of challenge that we typically struggle against and I’m not yet convinced we have a plan to overcome this kind of physical team. 

On a positive note, this season we’ve been able to get results even when we’ve not deserved it because of our threat from set pieces. I can’t see us playing beautiful football but if we can draw fouls out of Millwall in dangerous areas then we will at least be a threat from dead ball situations.