Huddersfield Town take on Sheffield United this lunchtime in an early kickoff at the John Smiths’ Stadium. Town are now 13 games into an unbeaten run but come up against an opponent in decent form and will most likely find it a tough test.
After an attritional point was earned at Preston on Wednesday night I have a feeling that we may be in for another game where Town fans see our opponent have more of the ball. But when we played Sheffield United earlier in the season they did the same and Levi Colwill scored late on for us to snatch the three points. So I think Town have a chance of taking three points today even if we aren’t the team playing the nicest football.
Predicted lineup to take on Sheffield United
Many managers would rotate their squad when playing Wednesday night and Saturday lunchtime in the same week but Carlos doesn’t tend to do that. Rather than wholesale changes I think we’ll see only minor tweaks to the starting eleven.
The only player I can see being dropped would be Danel Sinani but even that isn’t certain given his ability to link up play and bring other players into the game. He was pretty woeful against Preston on Wednesday but he’s continued to be selected during previous wobbly patches of form.
I think Josh Koroma will be better suited to this game than Sinani as I expect we’ll approach it like we’re the away team and alllow Sheffield United time on the ball and try to hit them on the counter. Koroma and Sorba Thomas are our two best counter-attacking threats, so I expect both to be played today. Koroma in particular is good at dribbling with the ball at pace and being able to weave out of tight situations. Thomas is more of a knock and run kind of winger, which has its place at this level but Koroma’s close control when running at speed is far better than Thomas’ (though Sorba is better than Koroma in many other areas).
The other possible change to the lineup is for Carel Eiting to start. He’s played a large part in every Town game since his return, either starting or coming on early in the game. The nice problem Calros has is fitting him into the team when Hogg and O’Brien are automatic selections in midfield when they’re available. I think he’ll start on the bench and be brought on if we are chasing the game and need someone whose passing can unlock defences.
Score prediction – Huddersfield Town 1-0 Sheffield United
Those that read this blog often will know my team predictions are often off the mark but my scoreline predictions are even less often correct. Regardless, I’m going to confidently state that Town will narrowly edge this game by a single goal. Our continued good luck with decisions and the confidence that is flowing through the team makes me think we can keep a clean sheet and nick a goal from somewhere.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I expect Sheffield United will dominate the ball for long stretches and I suspect some Town fans will get frustrated if we don’t take the game to United. But our biggest successes this season have often been the result of making games scrappy, hanging in and scoring scruffy goals against the run of play.
After being ridiculously potent from set pieces early in the season we have mostly scored from open play lately. Sorba Thomas is still capable of putting in dangerous deliveries from free kicks and corners but we haven’t been able to make the most of them in the last couple of months. Today would be a good day to turn that around as I have a feeling there won’t be a boatload of chances from Town in open play.
Thoughts on the 0-0 against Preston North End
Work commitments meant I didn’t get the chance to write about the draw against Preston but I did catch the game and have a few thoughts.
The biggest discussion after the game was whether it was a good point or two points dropped. Whether you were happy or not with this result probably gives away your expectations for Town this season. Some fans have (understandably) inflated their idea of what Town are capable of after this good run and others remain more realistic about what this team is able to do.
Town’s somewhat timid showing on Wednesday will have disappointed those fans that see Town as a team higher up the table than Preston and currently in good form. But the Championship is famously a league where anyone can beat anyone, so it’s natural that Preston wouldn’t just roll over and let us beat them.
There have been very few games where Town have attempted to blow away the opposition with free flowing football (Reading is the only recent example and that nearly backfired on us when we gave away so many sloppy goals). So we were obviously going to keep things tight against a tough opponent like Preston.
It was a bit disappointing that Town couldn’t find any fluency in Preston’s half and as a result we had to defend a lot more than we willl have wanted. The good thing is that this team is capable of keeping things tight at the back in games where it’s not coming off for us at the other end of the pitch and that’s what made the difference in this game.
The other major talking point after the game was the penalty incidents. It looked to me that we, once again, got away with murder. The handball shout against Lees was debatable but the later appeal, where he caught the player and none of the ball was an obvious penalty. The Preston player’s willingness to hurl himself towards the deck probably helped our cause and added some doubt to the referee’s mind but it was still a poor decision.
You can probably tell by this stage, I’m quite pleased with the point, not all that entertained by the football that I saw but happy we’ve maintained this exceptional unbeaten run. Preston are a fairly typical Championship team, physical, competitive but also with a bit of quality here and there. The fact we’ve gone there, not played that well and still brought a point away is not to be sniffed at.
Good comments as usual TS, I disagree with you about the result; I believe that at long last our luck is going to change, although I hope I’m wrong!
I thought the centre of the pitch was our biggest issue against PNE hence my comments below.
Another point in the bag from possibly a reasonable, but certainly yet again a resilient, performance, the passing was just a little more reliable than usual, but if one team was going to win its name began with a P! Indebted as usual to Nicholls, who has this uncanny, magical ability to frequently be in the right place at the right time and with reactions to match.
The team has a real physical presence in defence, but not for the first time I have felt the team lacks this in midfield in spite of Hogg having one of his better games. O’Brien is the obvious exception but he brings energy rather than physicality, another competitor with presence and skill would help gain parity in that area. Yet again Hogg administers an extended dressing down to a player for a misplaced pass – Turton in this instance; this beggars belief. All this is a roundabout way of saying those in midfield were ineffective.
The god’s are still with us!
gods!!!!
Probably the most likely team though I would suggest Pipa will play instead of Turton. Toffolo is still doing reasonably well though hasn’t achieved his previous heights this season. I think possibly a rest is due for him with Ruffels being given a chance. Eiting will get better as he comes up to speed in the Championship and then there is Colwill back next week. With Anjorin also due in 2 or 3 weeks, the future looks pretty good.