Huddersfield Town vs Burnley
Date: 02/01/2019
KO: 19.45
Venue: John Smith’s Stadium
Referee: Mike Dean
Bottom of the table Huddersfield welcome Burnley to the John Smith’s Stadium in a key relegation dogfight.
Huddersfield have lost their last seven games and now find themselves four points adrift at the foot of the table.
Despite a recent upturn in form which saw Burnley breeze past West Ham, Sean Dyche’s team still find themselves in the drop zone on goal difference alone. With Southampton, who occupy the spot above them, visiting Chelsea this is a great opportunity for Burnley to drag themselves above the dotted line.
Team News
David Wagner has no new changes to his squad with Aaron Mooy, Danny Williams, Abdelhamid Sabiri and Tommy Williams all still unavailable.
Mooy is undoubtedly Huddersfield’s most influential player and the one most likely to move to another Premier League team if Huddersfield go down. His loss is a big blow to the team and the results show how much they are struggling without him.
For Burnley, Robbie Brady is back in training after an abductor injury and could feature if deemed fit enough.
Matt Lowton is available after completing a ban whilst Nick Pope, Aaron Lennon, Steven Defour and Stephen Ward all remain sidelined.
Burnley were buoyed in their last match by the return of Tom Heaton in goal after 15 months out. The former England international gave an imperious display and the Burnley fans will be hoping he can keep these same high standards as they look for their team to escape the drop.
19-year-old Dwight McNeil impressed for the Clarets against West Ham and even got amongst the goals. He is a player who is still clearly developing but it would not be a surprise to see him retain his place in the team.
Predicted Starting XIs
Huddersfield: Lössl; Zantac, Schindler, Kongolo; Durm, Hadergjonaj, Hogg, Billing, Lowe; Pritchard; Depoitre.
Burnley: Heaton; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Wood, Barnes.
Prediction: Huddersfield 0 Burnley 0
Not predicting a classic here I’m afraid. The three previous Premier League meetings between these two have ended all in draws with only two goals being scored.
Huddersfield need to desperately start picking points and this is a game which Wagner should be targeting if he wants his team to have any chance of surviving.
