It’s been a long wait over the summer, but Huddersfield Town’s return to the top flight of English football is finally almost here. We travel down to Crystal Palace for our first ever match in the Premier League and I can’t wait for this game.
Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town – Match details
Kickoff: 3pm, Saturday 12 August
Stadium: Selhurst Park
Tickets: The match is sold out in both home and away ends, so if you’ve not got one you’re stuck. This was the first match to test out the new away ticket priority system. It seemed to work as it should, the allocation sold out just after going on sale to Priority 4 fans. I was one of the lucky few to get a ticket in that final band of people, so maybe my opinion of the system is biased.
Travel info: There’s some information on getting to the ground on Crystal Palace’s website. From what I’ve read it looks like a bugger to get to from the north. If you drive all the way then you’ll have to navigate the M25 on a Saturday morning, which can be a nightmare. If you get public transport you’ll still have quite a bit of travelling after you’ve arrived at Kings Cross.
I’m driving down to North London and then catching a train to Thornton Heath.
Away pub: From the discussions I’ve seen on Twitter and Down at the Mac it looks like The Flora Sandes is the best nearby pub. It’s close to Thornton Heath station and is likely to be packed with Town fans. It’s a Wetherspoons, so don’t expect fancy dining or wine-bar ambience, but it’ll be cheap (for London) beer prices and a good atmosphere.
Likely Huddersfield Town lineup
I’m pretty confident I know eight of the starting eleven, but three spots I’m less sure about.
- Who will play alongside Mooy in midfield? I think Danny Williams will get the nod because of his defensive qualities but Philip Billing could be in contention.
- In the left-back position, Chris Löwe and Scott Malone are hard to pick between, but I think Wagner will go with his fellow German, who was so consistent last season.
- There are four potential starters for the three attacking spots behind the striker. One of van Le Parra, Tom Ince, Kasey Palmer, or Kachunga will have to settle for the bench. I think Wagner will choose to play Ince in his preferred right-wing position and drop Kachunga to the bench. It would be a shame to break up the pairing of Smith and Kachunga but Ince should play in his best position. An alternative would be to drop VLP, put Ince on the left and Kachunga on the right. We’ll find out how close my predictions are at about 2pm on Saturday.
David Wagner previews the Palace game
David Wagner was in good form for his pre-match press conference. I’m very pleased to hear him confirm we’re not going to change our style of play now we’re in the Premier League. The “terrier identity” style of football isn’t guaranteed to succeed but it’s right to keep playing that way.
The editing is slightly different on this interview to the usual ones, there are cuts in mid-sentence and it skips on to the next topic. I suspect this is because the full-length interview is available through the premier HTTV+ service the club have launched.
Opposition info: Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace parted ways with previous manager Sam Allardyce shortly after the end of the 2016/17 season. After what seemed like a long recruitment process, the appointed Frank de Boer as Allardyce’s successor (not Ronald de Boer as Palace’s social media team accidentally tweeted).
This change in manager is also going to mean a complete change in footballing philosophy at Crystal Palace. They’re moving from the direct, results focussed style of play that Allardyce is famous for, to a total football approach. It’s hard to know how the players and fans will adjust to this more possession-based game. I suspect a big change in style will take time to bed in, so it could be a good time to play the Eagles.
Palace have got some good players on their books, so it’s important not to underestimate them. Christian Benteke scored 17 goals in 40 appearances last season, so will be a threat to our defence. Last season he thrived on the service provided from the wings by Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend. How that will work in de Boer’s preferred 3-4-3 system will remain to be seen.
Palace predicted lineup:
GK: Hennessey
CB: Riedewald / CB: Dann / CB: Fosu-Mensah
LWB: Schlupp / CM: Milivojevic / CM: Loftus-Cheek / RWB: Townsend
LW: Zaha / CF: Benteke / RW: Eyenga-Lokilo
Man to watch: Zaha
Wilfried Zaha probably had his best season last year, scoring seven goals and providing nine assists over the course of the season. He’s quick, skilful and deadly. While I remember him playing against Town back in 2013 the year before his ill-fated move to Manchester United, we’ll see a far more accomplished player this weekend. Every area of his game has improved and he’s likely to be a thorn in our side.
He prefers to play on the right-side of the attack, so I think he’ll operate in between Schindler and Löwe. While I’ve got every faith those two Town defenders, they’ll have their work cut out to contain Zaha. It will be interesting to see if Löwe looks to overlap as much as he usually does, because getting too far forward risks leaving space for Zaha to break into when possession turns over to Palace.
Crystal Palace v Town history
We’ve played Crystal Palace a total of 40 times, winning 11, losing 12 and drawing 17, so there’s little between the two sides historically. The first meeting was in February 1929, when Town beat Palace 5-2 in the FA Cup.
The most recent meeting with Crystal Palace came in January 2013, when a single James Vaughan goal was enough to give Town a 1-0 victory in the Championship. Despite losing that game, Crystal Palace were promoted in the 2012/13 season and have been a Premier League team since. Now, four years later, Town play their first ever Premier League game against them.
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Terrier Spirit prediction – 2-1 to Town
Crystal Palace away is a good test for Town in the Premier League. They’re not one of the big boys, but they’ve been at this level for a few years and have quality players all over the pitch. It’s going to be a tough game, but I think the positivity around the Town camp should count for a lot and we’ll want to prove our critics wrong.
Crystal Palace are at the start of a rebuilding process under Frank de Boer and now is the best time to play them. He’s trying to make the team play a different style of football and it’s likely they’ll have a bedding-in period.
If players used to direct football are being instructed to retain possession and play short passing football they’ll be vulnerable to Town’s aggressive pressing game. I think Town will be well drilled, high-energy and can make life very uncomfortable for Palace on Saturday.
I fancy Mounié and Ince to both get on the score sheet in this game, as both have been prolific in pre-season. We’re not likely to have it all our own way though, so I suspect we’ll let at least one in the other end.
Just to register a point would be a starter – the two points on top of that for a win would be a bonus.
I do fear though how we’ll fare against Benteke, Zaha etc. because they could destroy our defence like a knife through butter if we make costly mistakes. The Championship is more forgiving and the Premier League can be more hurtful.