By Daniel Wood
Huddersfield Town host Luton Town in the SkyBet Championship on Friday 10th July at the John Smith’s Stadium; 6 pm KO.
Huddersfield Town will be looking to continue their unbeaten run which has seen them keep three clean sheets in a row, drawing two games and winning one.
Last time out saw them draw 0-0 at Reading. In addition to this, they also drew the game prior to that against Preston with the same scoreline.
During the Huddersfield Town press conference on 9th July, manager Danny Cowley stated, “We’ve certainly been pleased with our defensive performance over the past three games.” He also emphasised the importance of adding more goals to their game.
The Terriers sit 19th in the league table, two points ahead of the relegation zone.
Luton Town
Coming into this game, Luton sit bottom of the Championship table. Since the restart, they have won one game, drawn three and lost one.
Last time out Luton drew 1-1 with another relegation battling side, Barnsley. This was a positive result after their pummelling at the hands of Reading, which ended 5-0 to the visitors.
Since the restart, Luton have not lost away from home. They drew 1-1 against automatic promotion contenders Leeds United at Elland Road and won 1-0 away at playoff pushers, Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
With that being said, over the course of the whole season, Luton Town have the worst away record in the division. They have won only four times in 21 games on their travels, drawing two and losing 15 times.
The Luton manager, Nathan Jones, who returned to the club following 18 months away had a 51% win percentage during his first spell as manager. He guided Luton Town through two promotions in a row to take the side from League Two to the Championship in just two seasons.
He left Luton Town in January 2019 to join Stoke City and left Luton with the best points per game ratio of any manager in their history.
Ones to Watch
Matty Pearson
Pearson signed for the Hatters in 2018 from Barnsley. During his first season at the club he played every single league game for them, as they were promoted to the Championship in the 2018/19 season. He has featured in all but one of Luton’s league games this season, which was the 1-1 draw against fellow relegation battlers, Barnsley.
Isaiah Brown
‘Izzy’ Brown is a name that Terriers fans should know very well. The winger spent the second half of Huddersfield’s Premier League promotion season with the club, on loan from Chelsea. During his time with Huddersfield, Brown scored five goals and provided one assist in his 21 appearances. Brown tops the Bedfordshire Club’s assist charts for assists this season with seven to his name.
James Collins
The 29-year old striker joined the Hatters in 2017 after a one-season with Crawley Town. He became a fan favourite very quickly at the club, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Yeovil Town. During that season, he helped Luton gain promotion to League One. He won League One player of the season as Luton were then promoted to the Championship in the 2018/19 season. Collins is Luton’s top goalscorer this season with 12 league goals to his name.
TEAM NEWS – Huddersfield Town
During the virtual press conference on Thursday 9 July 2020, Danny Cowley said that he hopes Fraizer will be fit to play and also praised what he brings to the team, saying “He brings intensity to our play and we don’t like it when he’s not available to us.”
Juninho Bacuna is set to return following his suspension.
Tommy Elphick is still out with a long-term knee injury.
TEAM NEWS – Luton Town
Izzy Brown is a maybe for the Hatters. He missed the 1-1 draw with Barnsley on Tuesday due to an Achilles injury. It is unsure whether he will be back for the trip to Huddersfield.
PREDICTION
Luton slightly leads the head-to-head record against Huddersfield. Since their first encounter in 1952, the sides have only met 22 more times. Luton have won 11 games, there have been three draws and Huddersfield have won on nine occasions. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Luton Town were 2-1 winners.
The Terriers have the better form coming into this game, as they have not conceded for over 270 minutes of football. They have kept a clean sheet for their last three games and have gone unbeaten in that time.
On the other hand, the Hatters are winless in their last three games, since their 1-0 win away at Swansea City. They have drawn two and lost one game (5-0) during that time.
Luton Town currently sit bottom of the Championship, five points away from safety so they will be desperate for a victory. As will the Terriers, who sit two points above the bottom three.
I feel as though Huddersfield Town’s defence will be too good for Luton Town to break down and it seems likely that the hosts will come away with all three points.
Therefore, I predict: