By Daniel Wood
Huddersfield Town host Wigan Athletic in the SkyBet Championship on Saturday 20th June at the John Smith’s Stadium; 3 pm KO.
It has been three months since the team’s last outing, due to the season being put on on hold over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Huddersfield Town will be looking for a positive return to action, as they play their first game since the West Yorkshire derby defeat against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Before the Championship was put on hold, the Terriers were sat in 18th place in the table, two places above their upcoming opponents Wigan Athletic.
Wigan Athletic
Before the lockdown, Wigan remained unbeaten in their last 6 Championship games and picked up 12 points during that run. Off the back of that run, they managed to get out of the relegation places and now sit two points ahead of the bottom three.
Wigan Athletic away records this season is the 17th best in the division, as they have picked up just 17 points from the 19 games they have played on their travels. They have won 4, drew 5 and lost 10 out of those games.
It will be interesting to see if travelling away from home has the same impact that it would do had there been fans allowed in attendance.
Their manager, Paul Cook, has been the manager of Wigan Athletic since 2017 and is his biggest managerial role to date. He has a 40%-win percentage at the club, and he led the club to 18th in the Championship last season, avoiding relegation. He has managed a slew of other clubs including Southport, Sligo Rovers, Accrington Stanley, Chesterfield and Portsmouth.
Cook won the league two title with both Chesterfield and Portsmouth and won the league one title with Wigan Athletic.
Ones to Watch
Chey Dunkley
The 28-year-old defender joined Wigan Athletic in 2017 after leaving Oxford United. The season that saw Latics get promoted to the Championship, Dunkley was an ever-present. During that season, Wigan had the least goals conceded in the division.
In addition to this, he is also Wigan’s joint top goalscorer this season with six goals to his name.
Keiffer Moore
The 27-year-old forward joined Wigan Athletic in 2019 after leaving Barnsley. He has scored 6 goals this season and provided 4 assists, which makes him the top goal contributor in the squad.
Moore has had 41 shots at goal this season. This is the most by some distance and it shows that he is always very keen to get shots away at goal.
Sam Morsy
After signing for Chesterfield in January 2016, Morsy has gone on to make over 100 appearances for Wigan. Following an injury-hit start to the campaign, Morsy has played in almost every game since returning from injury.
Morsy was an integral part of Wigan’s 2017-18 promotion campaign and was named the club captain that season. He also has 3 goals and 2 assists this season.
Team News – Huddersfield Town
Tommy Elphick is still on the road to recovery from his long-term knee problem.
Team News – Wigan Athletic
Nothing to report.
PREDICTION
The Terriers lead the head-to-head record since their first clash with Latics, back in 1973. Town have won 14 encounters, Wigan have won 9 games and there have been 8 draws between the two sides.
In the reverse fixture this season, it ended 1-1 between the two sides at the DW Stadium.
Before the lockdown period, Wigan Athletic had the better form of the two sides as they went unbeaten in six games. Meanwhile, Huddersfield Town only won two of their last six games in that time. It will be interesting to see whether the teams resume their form before the break or if they take a drastic turn around.
Both teams will be looking to put some more breathing room between themselves and the bottom three, as both clubs sit relatively close to the drop. Latics sit two points above the drop, whereas Town sit 4 points above the drop.
If there were fans in attendance, the home advantage would have been with Huddersfield. However, with the lack of fans, there is not a clear advantage to rave about.
With that being said, I do still feel as though there will be a positive result for the Terriers against the Latics as when both teams are set out it does appear like Town have the edge over their opponents.
Therefore, I predict:
Huddersfield Town 2-1 Wigan Athletic