Huddersfield Town travel to the midlands to take on West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Both teams are embroiled in this season’s relegation scrap, with West Brom rooted to the bottom of the table and seven points adrift from safety. Town’s position is better, but they’re currently placed precariously above the drop zone and need to pick up points to avoid sinking back into the mire.
Thankfully Town’s recent games have seen an upturn in form, with a convincing victory over Bournemouth in their last Premier League game and a good performance in their 2-0 defeat to Man United in the cup. Keeping the momentum from those games is vital, so in many ways the performance matters more than the result on Saturday.
Who will play in central midfield?
Aaron Mooy’s injury creates an opening in midfield and I’d expect two of Billing, Hogg, and Williams to start in central midfield. Which of these three will make the team is less clear. Hogg has been the first choice alongside Mooy for most of the season, but both Billing and Williams played very well against Manchester United last weekend.
The selection in midfield will give an indication of how attacking David Wagner wants Town to play. Keeping Billing and Williams will show that Wagner wants more creativity and attacking threat in these positions. Hogg and Williams together would be a strong defensive base but might lack the ability to play killer pass if Billing is rested.
I think that Hogg and Billing would give a good balance. Our defence looks a lot more solid when Hogg is providing a screen in front of them, and Billing has the talent to make things happen and to find attacking players in dangerous areas with his passing.
What reception will the taxi stealing quartet get?
Four of West Brom’s players stole/borrowed a taxi during a training camp in Barcelona last week. Exactly the kind of negative story you don’t want when you’re stuck to the bottom of the table and staring relegation in the face.
Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore, and Boaz Myhill were the offending players and Saturday will be their first game since the incident. It’ll be fascinating to see how the fans at the Hawthorns respond to the players.
As a Town fan I’m hoping they receive some stick, creating a sideshow which distracts from the battle for Premier League points. However, if this situation happened at Huddersfield Town I think I’d still back the players on the pitch. They made a silly mistake but it’s a long way from the worst thing footballers have done while away on training camps.
Can Town sustain their improved form?
Town’s last two performances, against Bournemouth and Manchester United, have seen a return to the high-pressing, attacking football that has served Town so well in recent years. While the result wasn’t great against Manchester, few who attended the game would have any complaints about the level of performance.
It may be tempting for David Wagner to play it safe against West Brom and use defensive tactics. However, I’d like to see us stick to the formula that’s worked well in the last two games and look to dominate the opposition and press them high up the field.
There’s more risk involved with playing an attacking system away from home, but Town play their best when they have a go at the opposition and unsettle them. If we can limit Manchester United to two shots on goal in 90 minutes, then we should be able to contain West Brom while still being playing positively.
I don’t think it’ll be a disaster if we don’t win, a draw would be useful point. But it’s really important we keep our momentum, to keep our confidence high going into this vital run of games.
Could this be Alan Pardew’s last game in the job?
Alan Pardew hasn’t been in this job for long, but there are already rumours circulating that he’s potentially going to be sacked if he doesn’t win against Town at the weekend. I don’t think you can really judge a manager properly until he’s been in the job at least a year and had some backing in the transfer market to build the team he wants.
The managerial merry-go-round doesn’t allow managers the time they need to establish themselves though, and West Brom’s recent run of results mean he’s under pressure. This could mean the players pull out a performance to help save their manager’s job or they could crumble under the pressure.
Id be really disappointed if Towns senior players – Zanka, Hogg, Smith behaved like that and broke a curfew. In fact I can’t imagine them doing such a thing. Even if the manager was a plank like Pardew. Let alone with Wagner in charge.