Predicted lineup, score and 5 key questions for Huddersfield Town v Cardiff

Huddersfield Town face Cardiff tonight in a game that seems certain to disappoint Town fans as the team with the worst form in the Championship faces the one with the best. Cardiff are riding high after Mick McCarthy’s recent arrival. The dour Yorkshireman has taken the Bluebirds on an exceptional winning run that has made them playoff contenders despite the fact they were two points behind Town on New Year’s Day.

Town’s recent win against Swansea shows we can lift our levels when up against quality opposition but Cardiff specialise in the kind of physical football that has consistently tripped Town up this season, so expecting anything but a difficult night requires almost psychotic levels of optimism.

So, after making myself thoroughly miserable during this introduction, here are a few more of my thoughts about tonight’s game.

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI

Goalkeeper: Schofield

Defenders: Pipa, Stearman, Sarr, Crichlow

Midfield: Vallejo, O’Brien, Bacuna

Forwards: Mbenza, Campbell, Rowe

The case for dropping Schofield seems to be getting stronger with every game but I think he’ll continue tonight. He was wheeled out for the press conference yesterday afternoon, which would be cruel if he was about to be dropped. His answers to the questions from the press pack also suggested he’s not the nervous wreck he has recently appeared to be during games. Cardiff will definitely target his recent weakness on crosses and give him plenty of pressure. I hope this is the game where we see him prove he can command his area and claim crosses when needed.

I thought Pipa looked good as a left back in the first half against Preston but he looked poor for most of the game in that position against Birmingham, so putting him back on the right is a priority. If he doesn’t have a better game in his preferred position then it may be worth thinking about resting him soon as he’s been a bit off the boil lately.

Stearman, despite receiving a smack in the mouth, played fairly well against Birmingham and should keep his place over Keogh. This could be the game where Sarr receives the break he’s looked like he’s needed for weeks but I suspect he’ll continue because Carlos doesn’t like right footers playing on the left side of central defence. Though, we did play the last game with a right footed left back and left winger, so perhaps he’s less bothered about putting left footers on the left.

Jaden Brown has not impressed in his recent appearances and didn’t even make the bench against Birmingham despite having served his suspension for the red card he received in just 14 minutes on the pitch against Derby. So I’m going to steal the left back suggestion that Matt on the And He Takes That Chance podcast made. He went for Crichlow because despite being a central defender primarily, he has played as a left back most of his career in youth football so should be suited to play the role and provides some additional defensive cover and height for set pieces.

Vallejo continues to fill in for the injured Jonathan Hogg, who is set to return to training after this game. There’s nothing wrong with Vallejo apart from the fact he’s not Hogg and we badly need the leadership and aggression of “The General” back in the team. Having said that, Vallejo is useful to have as a screen in front of the defence and adds some composure on the ball when we play out from the back. Not to mention he’s a bit taller too, which is a particular concern for this game.

I’m always quick to point out Bacuna’s flaws but he was actually one of our better players against Birmingham and was the only attacker that looked to carry any threat for Town, so deserves to continue playing. O’Brien struggled again but his energy and stamina are enough for him to be a justified selection even when he’s otherwise playing poorly. Not to mention the lack of better alternatives on the fringes.

I think Aaron Rowe has been one of our most consistent players lately and has been unlucky to be dropped for mostly tactical reasons in the last few games. I’d prefer to see him out on the wings where he can take on Cardiff’s fullbacks and looks to get balls in the box. Holmes has played as a makeshift winger recently but tends to drop inside too much and adds to the congestion in the middle of the pitch, so I’d prefer him to be kept as an impact sub if we need to change things.

I have a feeling that Campbell and Mbenza are both either carrying knocks or are nearing exhaustion but the lack of alternatives means they continue to be selected while we wait for reinforcements to become available.

Predicted outcome: 2-0 to Cardiff

I really dislike predicting a defeat for Town but it’s hard to see any other outcome for this game. There’s always a chance with Town that it could work out differently but all signs point towards a loss. Regardless of the result, I’ll be watching the game wanting to see something to make me feel more hopeful about the rest of the season. A more solid defense, a more penetrating attacking style, better organisation and game management, anything that looks like an improvement on recent performances will at least give us a bit of hope.

5 key questions that will be answered tonight

1 – How much has Carlos changed his approach?

After the Birmingham game both Richard Stearman and Corberán himself said that we could expect to see a more pragmatic type of football from Town between now and the end of the season. After doggedly continuing with his attacking philosophy for weeks when it clearly wasn’t working, the Birmingham game could mark a changing point for Carlos like Tottenham at home did for Wagner in our first Premier League season (anyone remember how that lurch towards pragmatism worked out? Oh.).

Tonight we’ll see if this is a tactical tweak or a wholesale change in how we play football. Are we going to stop being a Poundland Man City and instead be a Big Sam tribute act? Parking the bus doesn’t seem to be suited to the players we have but I suppose we’re now at the point where something has to change to try to arrest our slide towards relegation.

2 – Can we cope with Keiffer Moore

Moore bullied Town last season when Wigan beat us in one of those horrendous post-lockdown games where Town looked absolutely pathetic. He did similar in the away game against Cardiff. It’ll be interesting to see how we manage him tonight. While Sarr is the biggest defender, I’d make Stearman responsible for him as he’s more experienced with trying to suppress high-quality opponents.

As a side note, Cardiff paid Wigan £2m for the striker at a similar time to when we picked up Danny Ward on a free. While we might not have won the bidding war, it’s hard not to imagine what might have been if we’d have been able to bring him in.

3 – How will Town defend against the set piece masters?

Moore is exceptionally talented in the air but he’s not the only one of Cardiff’s team that is a threat when balls are pumped into the box. In the reverse fixture it looked like Land of the Giants whenever Cardiff won a corner. Our diminutive midfielders are continually matched up with six footers from the other side at set pieces and if that’s the case tonight we’ll surely be punished.

There are three ways I can see Town managing better than expected here. The first is to select a team with a few players capable of defending high balls into the box, which was part of my reasoning for having Crichlow come in at left back and keeping Vallejo in defensive midfield. The other thing is to stop giving away silly free kicks and corners and cutting out crosses in open play. Town are far too likely to give away fouls inside their own half and it’s one of the ways we lose control of games because defending continued set pieces leaves us trapped in our own half and unable to play our own game. The third way to be better at crosses comes from the keeper. If I was Carlos I’d tell Schofield to come out for anything and everything that comes in high and to clatter everyone that gets in his way. That way you either get the ball or a free kick, as referees will nearly always favour the keeper in such situations. Schofield looks a bit too polite sometimes and that can get on the way of him claiming balls he should.

4 – Will fans get behind the change of style?

A lot of slack has been given to Town this season because of the “journey” we’ve been on to play a new style. We were promised attacking, exciting football. Throwing away leads and making silly mistakes at the back were often waved away as a short-term cost of our transition to becoming a free-flowing football team.

So we’ve now been told to expect a more battling and direct kind of football (the same kind of football often cited as the reason the Cowleys were sacked) and I wonder how fans are going to adjust to this news. I know that most fans of Town are well accustomed to long-term plans being shelved within a few months but there’s already a bad atmosphere around the club and I worry that this lurch towards pragmatism, while necessary, may prove to be the final straw for many already dejected Town fans.

5 – Is this the first of three games Carlos has to save his job?

I’m speculating a bit here, but Town have got this game, QPR away next weekend and Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough the following midweek and then a 16 day gap before we face Brentford at home. So my thinking is that Carlos will be safe until at least that mini-break in the fixture list. If results don’t pick up then that fortnight gap represents an opportunity to get rid of the current coaching set up, bring in a new one and give them some time on the training pitch before the next game.

I suspect that Carlos is most likely safe as sacking him would look less like bold leadership from the board and more like abandoning their shiny new plan at the first sign of trouble. Arguably there are others within the club that are more to blame than Corberán for our current slump and they will be desperately hoping for an uptick in form to avoid having to make an unpleasant decision.