Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Plymouth Argyle

Huddersfield Town take on Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon. For those of you that have ever wondered, Plymouth don’t take their name from the Argyle jumper. It’s based on the name of a street in Plymouth, which is pretty dull. And in absorbing this completely useless factoid your brain has probably pushed out something useful, like where you’ve left your keys or the name of one of your neighbours. 

 Plymouth Argyle currently sit at the top of the League One table but Town are only three points behind them with a game in hand, so winning this game will see them leapfrog Plymouth due to our superior goal difference. Though winning this match will be a big ask for Martin Drury and his men. Plymouth are a very direct team and in Bim Pepple and Will Evans, they’ve a couple of bruisers up front that will look to dominate Town’s defence that has been decimated by injury after our bruising encounter with Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.

Here’s how I think Town will line up for this game: 

Goalkeeper: Matty Young

Martin Drury said that Plymouth are one of the most direct teams in the league in his pre-match comments, so Young will most likely have the ball shoved down his throat from long balls and crosses. We’ve seen times this season when Young has struggled to command his box and looks hesitant and flappy when he’s dealing with a packed box. I think Town need to consider whether this is an obvious weakness and allocate a defender to effectively act as his bouncer on corners and protect him or Young simply needs to be more assertive when the balls come in. I think I’ve seen signs in recent matches of him improving when tested with long balls and crosses but this game will most likely be a test of how much he’s improved.

Defenders: Bronkhorst, Low, Bowat, Roughan

We know that Radinio Balker and Murray Wallace will miss this game after picking up injuries last weekend, so there’s bound to be a bit of a shake up at the back. I’m quite a fan of Joe Low, so I’m not too concerned about Murray Wallace being unavailable. Radinio Balker is the bigger miss as we don’t have a like-for-like in the squad in terms of having a ball playing defender who’s comfortable in possession. With the obvious lack of central defenders, the obvious solution would be to switch to a back four, have Bowat as the other side of the central defensive pairing and bring Roughan in as a traditional left-back. 

Roughan has had a stop-start time at Huddersfield Town but has shown in moments that he’s a capable and solid defender with a pretty decent left foot on him. He has a tendency to knock it long rather than run with the ball at his feet but in a game where we’re likely to be under a bit of pressure, there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple.

Midfielders: Fernandes, Collins, Humphreys, Mumba

Derensili Sanches Fernandes was the third of the trio to leave the pitch injured last Saturday but thankfully he seems to be likely to be available for this game. He’s got a recurring knee issue that’s likely to need dealing with at some point but for now the signs suggest he’s able to play through that and, quite frankly, he’s too important to us to leave out for long periods. Of course, Drury’s fitness update may have been mind games and DSF might not be as fit as suggested but we’ll have to wait until the team sheet comes out to know for sure. But if he’s fit he simply must play because he’s such a dangerous player at this level. In fact, I have a feeling that he’d be very effective in the Championship too. So we may need to be promoted this season to avoid clubs in the league above sniffing around him in the summer.

I thought the Sheffield Wednesday game was our best central midfield performance of the season. Archie Collins popped up with two assists but also did a lot of the grunt work further back too, and closed down space like a real terrier. Cameron Humphreys also put a huge shift in and while he might not have been as eye-catching on the ball, he was relentless in the way he pushed up and supported the pressing of the forward players. If these two keep up this form then Ryan Ledson may find it tough to break back into the starting eleven when he recovers from his crocked elbow (and any potential ban after being charged by the FA for being mean to the referee after the Sheffield Wednesday game).

After a pretty indifferent start to his time at Town, it’s easy to write off Bali Mumba but he’s improved a lot as this season has gone on. He still seems capable of switching off from time to time but he’s also been good at bringing the ball up the field and attacks the far post when the ball is on the other side of the pitch, which increases our options in the box. I don’t know how much managers consider players personal history with the opposition but I have a feeling Mumba will want to put on a display against his old club, so I hope he’s given a chance to showcase what he can do in this match.

Forwards: Radulovic, Taylor

After many years of only having average options up front, we’ve now got three good strikers available to play (and Samson Tovide). Even better, we have a manager willing to play more than one of them at a time. Joe Taylor is very likely to start in this game but it’s less clear whether Fletcher or Radulovic will start. 

While Fletcher and Radulovic have similarities in the way they play (a big man that puts himself about a bit but is surprisingly good with his feet) there are also differences between the two. I think Ashley Fletcher is the more physically imposing of the pair but Bojan is better at dropping off and linking play up, which works well with players like Taylor and Fernandes having the pace to run beyond him. 

My preference would be for Radulovic to start as I think he’s one of those strikers that make the other players around them look better as well as making his own contribution to the team. After he had a rough start to his time at Town, it’s nice to see him performing well and enjoying his football.