By Daniel Wood – KLTV Contributor
Huddersfield Town will travel to Stoke City in the SkyBet Championship at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday 21st November; 3 pm KO.
The Terriers currently sit 13th in the Championship table, five points below the play-off places and seven points ahead of the bottom three.
Last time out, they drew 1-1 at home to Luton Town after once again having more of the ball and creating more chances.
Town are now two games without a win having lost 2-1 at home to Bristol City in their first game of November.
In their last five games, the Terriers have only collected four points out of a possible 15. They have lost three, drew one and won one during that time.
Stoke City
The Potters are currently 8th in the Championship table, only one point below the play-off places. Having experienced a few seasons of lower end Championship status, it will be refreshing for Stoke fans to see them well into the top half of the table.
In their last game, Stoke City beat top of the table Reading 3-0 away from home, as they took advantage of Reading’s poor run of form.
The Potters finished 15th in the Championship last season after a relegation scare in the first half of the season.
Their manager, Michael O’Neill, took charge in November 2019 and has done a pretty good job since. He has a 46.81%-win rate at the club and has won 22 of his 47 games at the helm.
His previous role was Northern Ireland’s national team coach and he kept his duties with the national team until April 2020. He had a weaker 36.11%-win rate as the coach of the national team, only winning 26 of his 71 games in charge.
He also had spells at Shamrock Rovers and Brechin City as manager.
As a player, O’Neill played for a host of Scottish and English clubs, including Wigan Athletic, Newcastle United, Dundee United and Hibernian. Most of his appearances came for Hibernian.
Ones to Watch
TOMMY SMITH
The former Town right-back who made 200 appearances for the club joined the Town academy from Manchester City before eventually progressing to the first team. He helped the Terriers win promotion to the Premier League, leading them out at Wembley. Tommy was elected as the club’s captain for their two seasons in the top-flight. He joined the Potters in July 2019 and has been virtually an ever-present under Michael O’Neill.
STEVEN FLETCHER
The experienced striker is currently Stoke City’s top goalscorer this season. The 33-year old has played in a variety of different leagues with most of his appearances coming in the English leagues. Known for his aerial threat, Fletcher has started eight league games this year and bagged four goals in the process.
TYRESE CAMPBELL
Another former Manchester City Academy player, Tyrese made his debut for Stoke City during their relegation season 2017/18. The striker, who can also play on the wing, became a regular for the Potters in the 2019/20 season. The 20-year old has scored three goals this season, including two goals against Brentford, and accompanied that with five assists for his teammate’s goals.
Team News – Huddersfield Town
The Terriers were without Tommy Elphick (knee) and Rarmani Edmonds-Green (hip) in their last outing against Luton Town.
Predictions
Stoke City lead the head to head results against Huddersfield Town. Since their first meeting in 1920, The Potters have won on 29 occasions, there have been 25 draws and the Terriers have won 22 times.
Last time the teams met, Stoke won 5-2 on New Years Day 2020 at the John Smiths Stadium.
Stoke City are coming into this game in better form having won 3-0 away to Reading last time out, whereas Town only managed a draw in their last game and are winless in their last two games.
I can see this game being a tight encounter with both teams trying to go for the win. The Terriers will likely have the most possession in the game, as that is becoming somewhat of a regular occurrence for them this season.
I can see Stoke City attempting to catch Town on the counterattack and it could work effectively for them.
I see both teams scoring in the game, however the only way I see this going is a draw.
Therefore, I predict: