PREVIEW: Huddersfield Town vs Liverpool – 30/01/18

Huddersfield Town vs Liverpool 

Date: 30/01/18

K.O: 20.00pm

Venue: John Smiths Stadium

So, the question on everyone’s lips at the moment is – will Huddersfield kick Liverpool whilst they are down? Or do we see the resurgence of Liverpool and a return to the form we have seen in the last few weeks?

I’m going to attempt to try and unravel the mystery that is Liverpool Football Club whilst trying to determine Huddersfield’s chances here.

THE RECENT…

Starting by stating the obvious, Liverpool toppled the league leaders, Man City, in an entertaining encounter at Anfield only 15 days ago. Since then, they have pretty much hit rock bottom, with 2 dismal displays, one away to Swansea where they suffered a 1-0 defeat and one at home to West Brom in the FA Cup, where they were soundly beaten 2-3. Let’s just be clear here and put this into perspective, both these sides sit in 20th and 19th spot in the Premier League after 24 games and are serious contenders for the drop this season. From a Liverpool point of view, “absolutely not good enough” is on the end of, I would say, every Liverpool fan’s tongues.

Liverpool, despite their January signing of Van Dijk, are still making those ridiculous mistakes at the back which have been apparent for what feels like far too long but in reality, a couple of seasons. Those who thought Van Dijk would be the answer are now finding out the hard way that one signing is not going to change Liverpool’s joint defence-goal keeper problem. Those who also thought losing Coutinho wouldn’t have too much of a negative impact, again, are learning the hard way too as Liverpool lost their 3rd highest top scorer this season. West Brom, having played 24 Premier League games this season and only have an average of 0.79 goals scored per game. They managed to score 3 at Anfield to dump the reds out of the cup. Away from home, West Brom’s average is just 0.58 per game. How did this happen?

Looking at Huddersfield, they have the same average of 0.79 goals scored per game, however; at home, the average rises to 0.92 goals scored. As we’ve seen with Liverpool this season, they need to score a minimum of 2 before a game has even kicked off to ensure they have a chance of victory as, at the back, it is not clicking and doesn’t look like it will either without further investment.

Huddersfield have shown their Premier League worth this season in more ways than one. They sit in 14th at the moment but only 2 points above the drop zone. Putting this into perspective though, there is only 6 points between 18th and 9th place. A short baron spell for any of these sides could see them propping up the table and likewise a purple patch could see them sitting in the top half of the league. A win for Huddersfield on Tuesday night could see them leap-frog 4 places and 4 teams currently ahead of them. With all this being said, it is still a huge task!

At home though, with the backing of the 12th man, Huddersfield are a different side and I expect them to try and make life difficult for Liverpool, the same way Swansea and West Brom have done recently. Huddersfield can learn a lot from these 2 matches and looking at some of their better results this season, they managed a 1-4 win at Watford and more notably a 2-1 win at home to Man Utd! Liverpool are much more explosive than the likes of Man Utd going forward but with their evident problems at the back, I think Huddersfield can cause Liverpool problems. I mentioned set pieces in my Swansea preview and this was apparent in the only goal of the game. Again, I can’t see anything other than bad defending from set pieces in this one too as Liverpool fail to show the nerve of dealing with such situations.

As we know, Liverpool could run away with this one and probably should because it is what Klopp will demand. Liverpool never fail to create chances, it is the converting of these chances which hinders them. They had 20 attempts against Swansea but only managed 2 more on target than Swansea, the conversion rate is very poor in front of goal and has been for the majority of the season, even when they have had good results. Their conversion rate for penalties is even worse, having only scored 4 of their last 10! Against West Brom, the full backs (Moreno and Trent) managed 20 crosses between them but only 3 found a red shirt. It just shows on many different levels that Liverpool on the final third can be seriously wasteful!

Huddersfield have only lost 2 of their last 6 at home in all competitions. Their last league home game outing was against West Ham, where they were beaten 1-4 but this didn’t truly reflect how the game went. It was out of character for Huddersfield as they’ve only conceded more than 1 goal at home against the likes of Spurs (4) Man City (2 – 84th minute goal), Chelsea (3) and West Ham (4). Every other game has seen clean sheets or 1 goal resulting in wins or draws for Huddersfield across the board. The West Ham match, therefore, was very out of character and David Wagner, post-match, agreed far too many mistakes were made which led to “own goals” in his mind. They kept West Ham to just 8 shots at goal, which they matched themselves, but naturally conceded a goal in 50% of the away side’s efforts which just shows how anomalous this match was in the end. Since then, Huddersfield have played away at Stoke which they lost 2-0 and had a home FA Cup match against Birmingham which they drew 1-1. Another mistake at the back for the goal they conceded against Birmingham is worth noting here.

THE HEAD TO HEAD…

Earlier in the season, Liverpool crushed Huddersfield 3-0 at Anfield, with all the goals coming in the second half and a missed penalty from Salah before half time. Huddersfield managed 27% possession and only one shot at goal, which was off target. I was personally at this game and from what I remember, Huddersfield held their own first half, doing what most teams do at Anfield and try to soak up the pressure. They did it very well, albeit giving away a penalty which was eventually missed. The problem for Huddersfield was apparent, there was no out ball, there was no one to take the pressure away and there was no forward threat.

The only other competitive meeting between the two sides was in 1999 (19 years ago) in a FA Cup tie which ended 0-2 to Liverpool.

THE TRENDS…

I had a similar section in the Swansea preview which showed it was Swansea’s turn to take all 3 points, highlighting that draws are hard to come by between Liverpool and Swansea and that they had been exchanging wins in the last few encounters.

Last season saw Liverpool lose to Swansea in the league in January too and then a quick exit in the FA Cup after a home loss to Wolves. What happened in their following games you ask? They had a match up against Chelsea which ended 1-1 at home and they then lost 2-0 to Hull away from home which closed out a very poor run with not a single win in January and a loss at the start of the February period. This doesn’t bode well for Liverpool at all and the trend suggests Liverpool drop points here too.

Conversely, Huddersfield have been drawing at half time in their last 3 Premier League games and have gone on to lose in the second half. Couple this with the defeat earlier in the season which saw a 0-0 half time score, it could be a tight one first half again.

THE LINE-UPS…

Liverpool predicted XI:

Karius, Gomez, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Can, Henderson, Ox, Mane, Firmino, Salah

Klopp has confirmed Karius is the number one keeper in his squad, although, majority of people will tell you that it doesn’t really matter who is in net at this point. I’d be hoping for a return to the starting XI for Gomez and Robertson, I feel they both bring slightly more in terms of defensive qualities ahead of Trent and Moreno, they also seem less susceptible to mistakes! Lallana is out with a muscle injury and it seems Klavan is also struggling to be fit. Clyne is still out long-term. Sturridge seems to be the talk in terms of transfer at the moment with either a loan move or a permanent move away from Liverpool so I’d expect he doesn’t feature at all in the match day squad. Lovren I feel will start to push for a place ahead of Matip if things don’t start to click soon. I think Henderson will return to the starting line-up ahead of Wijnaldum.

Huddersfield predicted XI:

Lossl, Smith, Zanka, Schindler, Malone, Hogg, Mooy, Ince, Pritchard, Parra, Depoitre

I think Mounie will be replaced by Depoitre although Mounie grabbed a goal against Birmingham last time out as Depoitre will be fresher having sat the previous game out. I can see Huddersfield packing the midfield in their usual one up top, supported by three in behind and two holding midfielders. Danny Williams unlikely to be in the squad after he was forced off against Birmingham. Kongolo and Cranie are doubtful with Stankovic and Kachunga both out longer term.

ONES TO WATCH…

For Huddersfield, Schindler defensively speaking up against the likes of Salah, Mane and Firmino. He will have his hands full but is more than capable, with the help of his colleagues, in keeping them at bay. Mooy is having a sterling season and fans will hope he can dictate play in the midfield and finally Depoitre will hope he can be on the end of some creative play and put the ball past the Liverpool goalkeeper.

For Liverpool, the power 3, Mane, Salah and Firmino. As we know, on their day, they can dismantle any defence in the league (and possibly in Europe) and even if 2 of 3 are over performing, it normally promises good things for Liverpool in front of goal.

KEY BATTLE…

Klopp Vs Wagner, well documented friends but who will get the most out of their players with the similar pressing style they have tried to instil into their teams. Could be the key to who wins this contest.

THE PREDICTION…

I actually hate doing this part because Liverpool, well, are Liverpool. They can go on an incredible run and then hit everyone with a crazy one-off performance against a much lower position side. They can go from having an incredible record against top 5/6 sides and then go on a poor one and follow up with a win against Man City. For this one, I’m going to stick my neck out and say Liverpool to win 1-2 but I can see them struggling and I can definitely see them conceding through some defensive plunder or goal keeping error. With the reverse fixture seeing Liverpool win 3-0 and sparking their 18 game unbeaten record, Klopp would hope this is the start he needs to get the side back on track.

My preview for 90MAAT, hopefully many many more to come. If you liked it, feel free to send a message via twitter to @90MAAT_ (I’m sure they will pass on your thoughts).

Written by George Pavlou.