preview – Page 5 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Feb22018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup for Manchester United away

Matches

Huddersfield Town travel to Old Trafford in poor form, perilously close to the relegation zone, and very low on confidence. Despite the doom and gloom, I think we've got a better chance against Manchester United than the bookies predict. Don't forget they wrote us off in the home game, where Town beat Man United 2-1. Here the lineup I think David Wagner will pick to get a result from the Manchester United game. Formation: 5-3-2 Despite losing 3-0 to Liverpool playing with three centre-backs on Tuesday night I think David Wagner will have seen enough positives to try it again. The new shape meant there weren't too many gaps to exploit and Liverpool's attacking threat was limited. That might sound strange when they scored three but our defence was mostly well-disciplined and closed d...

Jan302018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

PREVIEW: Town v Liverpool -What can we expect?

Matches

Town host Liverpool in the Premier League tonight. When the implications of Town’s playoff victory were settling in last May I was thinking about this sort of game, and it still seems unbelievable. While our recent form isn’t much to shout about, the fact we’re playing against Liverpool in a league game in our stadium is something special. I can’t wait to watch it. Time to experiment with three at the back? David Wagner has played a 4-5-1 system against the top-six teams in the games since we lost to Spurs using the more open 4-2-3-1 shape. I think the Liverpool game might be the time to experiment with three centre-backs. Terence Kongolo was one of the few players to emerge from the draw against Birmingham with any credit, so he deserves a chance to play in a back three. Addin...

Jan272018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

MATCH PREVIEW – Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City

Matches

Town are experiencing a tough time in the Premier League, so this weekend’s visit of Birmingham City in the FA Cup is a welcome respite. While managers like to pay lip service to the "magic of the cup", we’re likely to see wholesale changes from David Wagner. Rotation policy This won’t be the first time that Wagner has rotated his players for a game against Birmingham. Last season’s away game in the Championship came shortly before our playoff games, and Wagner changed the bulk of the team to rest his best players. Much to Blackburn fans displeasure, who went down instead of Birmingham, in part because our reserves were soundly beaten by Birmingham. David Wagner, quite frankly, doesn’t care about criticism though. His desire to play a high-pressing game and his background in sports sc...

Jan192018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Stoke away predictions: Tactics, team selection, and scoreline

Matches

Huddersfield Town head to the Potteries to take on Stoke in the Premier League. In a quirk of the fixture scheduling, our second game of the season against Stoke comes three weeks after the first. It’s a big game for both teams, with Stoke welcoming new manager Paul Lambert and Town hoping to bounce back from a recent dip in form. Here are my thoughts about the system Town will play and which players David Wagner will pick for the match. These are my ill-informed opinions, so it’s quite possible we’ll play a completely different team. What formation will Town play against Stoke? The question of formations under David Wagner is generally an easy one to answer. He’s a 4-2-3-1 man, and has built his philosophy around playing in this shape. However, we’ve been consistently caught out ...

Jan122018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Huddersfield Town v West Ham – Everything you need to know before the game

Matches

Town are back in Premier League action against West Ham, after beating Bolton in the FA Cup last weekend. The game at the John Smith’s Stadium is a chance to put right the 2-0 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium earlier in the season. This is a game that could easily shape the direction of the rest of Town’s season. A win will help us cement our position in mid-table, a defeat will put us closer to the relegation spots with some tough games coming up. West Ham are a team that have underperformed this season and are below Town in the league. However, they’ve got good individual players and will be tough opponents. David Moyes isn’t rated as a manager anymore, but he’s built his career on putting together well-organised teams that are hard to break down. Who will play for Town in...

Jan62018 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Bolton away preview: Town set to play second-string in FA Cup

Matches

Town travel to Bolton for the third round of the FA Cup today. I remember when the cup was a relief from the trudge of playing in the league and a chance for glory. This season it’s a distraction. Playing in the Premier League is so entertaining the FA Cup feels a bit like a sideshow. David Wagner has consistently rotated his team for cup games during his time at Town. He argues that he does the same in the league too, but that’s usually two or three players, whereas today it is likely to be somewhere between 9 and 11 players. Goalkeeper: Joel Coleman As I’ve mentioned above, I think there will be wholesale changes for this game. Joel Coleman is confirmed to start in goal, giving Jonas Lössl a day off. From Wagner’s comments, it sounds like he’s chosen Coleman over Rob Green en...

Jan12018 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

PREVIEW: Leicester away – predicted lineup, tactics, and score

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Leicester on New Year's Day at the King Power Stadium. It comes just two days after Town’s 0-0 draw with Burnley and marks the end of the hectic Christmas schedule for Town. Here’s a look forward to Monday’s game… Predicted lineup David Wagner has consistently played weakened teams in the cups since he’s been at Town, so I suspect he’ll pick the best available team for Leicester and a weakened team in the FA Cup next weekend. For Leicester this might mean bringing in fresh legs in some areas but sticking with his mainstays in others. Lössl, Zanka and Schindler should start again. Both fullbacks will switch, as Hadergjonaj went off at half-time against Burnley and Malone had a bit of a stinker. Hogg and Mooy are our two first-choice midfielders but I...

Dec302017 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Predictions for Town v Burnley – Team selection, tactics, bets, and scoreline

Matches

Huddersfield Town face Burnley at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday. Both teams are doing a lot better this year than expected, so it should be a good game. Here are my predictions for the match: Predicted lineup for the Burnley game This game comes in the middle of Town’s hectic Christmas schedule. David Wagner is likely to have half an eye on the game against Leicester on Monday, as well as seeing who’s still fresh after playing Stoke on Tuesday this week. For this reason, I think Wagner will make a few changes to the starting eleven. As I mentioned in the Stoke preview, Lossl, Zanka, Schindler and Mooy are the hardest players to drop so they may retain their places. I suspect Wagner would prefer to rest at least one of his centrebacks but until Hefele and Stankovic are fit a...

Dec252017 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Huddersfield Town v Stoke – TerrierSpirit.com match preview

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Stoke in a top-flight Boxing Day clash. Playing Premier League football on Boxing Day is this year’s biggest Christmas present, and we can all be thankful to David Wagner and Dean Hoyle for delivering this wonderful gift. Stoke currently lie 14th in the table, three points and three places below Town. They’ve underacheived under Mark Hughes this season and pressure was starting to mount on the manager. A 3-1 win over West Brom on Saturday brought some relief, but expect chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” if Town take the lead at any stage. Huddersfield Town are favourites for once Pundits and bookies have routinely written Town off this season and we get used to being told we’re going to get beaten. It’sp strange to enter a game where we’re fancie...

Dec222017 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Southampton away preview – tactics, lineups, last meeting & score prediction

Matches

Huddersfield Town head to the south coast for their last away game of the year, taking on Southampton at the Saint Mary’s stadium. Town are currently one place and three points above Southampton in the Premier League table, which few would have bet on at the start of the season. This is the first return fixture in the Premier League for Town, following the 0-0 draw at home with Southampton last August. Newly promoted sides often find it harder in the second half of the season because teams know what to expect when they play again. It’ll be interesting to see if Southampton differ their approach against Town. Who will David Wagner pick to play against Southampton? After such a fine performance against Watford and a full week to rest between games it’s hard to imagine wholesale changes ...