Huddersfield Town v Newcastle United
Date: 20/08/17
KO: 13.30pm
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
On Sunday lunchtime Huddersfield Town host Newcastle United in their first ever Premier League home game.
For just over 24 hours last weekend the Terriers were top of the table after an excellent 3-0 opening day victory at Crystal Palace, largely due to an impressive brace from debutant Steve Mounie.
For the Magpies, captain Jonjo Shelvey ended any chance of getting a positive result at home to Tottenham Hotspur. His idiotic stamp on Dele Alli was right in front of referee Michael Oliver, giving him no option but to send off the six-time England international for the second time in his Newcastle career.
Rafa Benitez’s side had frustrated Spurs in the opening 45 as they went in goalless, but Shelvey received his marching orders just three minutes after the restart, leaving Newcastle helpless as Alli and then left-back Ben Davies gave the visitors a routine 2-0 win.
It’s been a quiet week in West Yorkshire with only a new two-year contract for defender Michael Hefele to report. Target Andy Yiadom hadn’t been selected for Barnsley’s last two fixtures, but boss Paul Heckingbottom said after beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 on Tuesday that the deal for the right-back is off.
The Terriers have Jonathan Hogg, Martin Cranie, Nahki Wells and Jon Gorenc Stankovic on their injury list, but escaped from Selhurst Park without any fresh damage.
Newcastle on the other hand had a torrid time with injuries last Sunday. Left-back Paul Dummett pulled-up after just seven minutes with a hamstring injury, while new signing Florian Lejuene suffered ankle ligament damage after a nasty tackle from Harry Kane.
They join DeAndre Yedlin on the treatment table, while Shelvey will also begin his three match ban. With Dummett out, Rafa Benitez may be forced into swapping Javier Manquillo from right-back to left-back, with either Jesus Gamez or Chancel Mbemba deputising on the right.
Borussia Dortmund loanee Mikel Merino impressed in his brief cameo against Spurs and will surely be given his chance in the starting line-up on Sunday.
£5m signing Joselu, who joined from Stoke City this week, is most likely to start on the bench with Aleksandar Mitrovic given a last chance to lead the line.
It’s only been five months since the Magpies went to the John Smith’s Stadium and won 3-1, with goals coming from Matt Ritchie, Daryl Murphy and Gayle – although a similar result this time isn’t on the cards.
Potential line ups:
Huddersfield: Lossl; Smith, Zanka, Schindler, Lowe; Mooy, Billing; Kachunga, Palmer, Ince; Mounie
Newcastle: Elliot; Mbemba, Lascelles, Clark, Manquillo; Hayden, Merino; Ritchie, Perez, Atsu; Mitrovic
Written by Oliver Stevenson.
