By Daniel Wood
Huddersfield Town will travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City in the SkyBet Championship on Saturday 17th October; 3 pm KO.
Last time out saw the Terriers draw away to Rotherham Town, as the scoreline finished 1-1. Town’s equaliser came in the 96th minute via an own goal. However, Town did dominate the game with 73% possession and 6 more shots than Rotherham.
Town are now unbeaten in their previous two league games after winning 1-0 at the John Smith Stadium against struggling Nottingham Forest, at the John Smiths Stadium.
They currently sit 19th in the league table, only three places above the relegation zone. However, they have a four-point cushion.
Having started the season as one of the relegation favourites, Corberan and his players will be happy to see a gap between themselves and the bottom three.
Swansea City
The Swans have started the season very well, as they are unbeaten in their opening four games. During that spell they have won three and drawn one.
Thanks to their early form, they currently sit 4th in the Championship table with a three-point cushion already established between themselves and Watford who are currently in 7th place, outside of the play off places.
Last time out, Swansea City beat Millwall 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium thanks to goals from Bidwell and Cabango.
Swansea finished 6th in the Championship last season at booked themselves a place in the play off places on the final day of the season. Unfortunately for them they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Brentford.
Their manager, Steve Cooper, has been at the helm since June 2019 and currently has a 42.1% win-rate at the club (winning 24, drawing 17 and losing 16).
His previous mainstream managerial roles were with the England U16s and more recently, the England U17s. He managed only eight games for the U16s, where he has a 62.5% win-rate, whereas he manages 66 games for the U17s between 2015 and 2019. He had a 69.7% win-rate with them.
During his time with the U17s he won the FIFA U17s World Cup.
He also managed the Liverpool youth side from 2008-2013 and the Wrexham youth side prior to that.
He did not have much of a playing career with most of his games coming in the Welsh League, primarily for Bangor City where he made 57 appearances.
Ones to Watch
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE
The young midfielder was signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan this summer. He was a player well-known to Steve Cooper due to his involvement with England’s youth sides. Gibbs-White was part of the England U17s side that lifted the FIFA U17s World Cup. The 20-year old has been impressive so far this season, scoring one goal and assisting another.
ANDRE AYEW
The Ghanaian international is in his second spell with the Welsh club. He returned to the club following two and a half seasons at West Ham United. Last season he was the Swans’ top goal scorer in all competitions with 18 goals to his game. His only goal so far this season was in a 2-0 away win against Wycombe Wanderers. The striker will be hungry to add to his tally against the Terriers.
JAKE BIDWELL
The defender joined the Swans in July 2019 and has become a regular for Steve Cooper’s side. The left-back has almost reached last seasons assists tally and it has only been four games into the new season. If needed, Bidwell can also play at the centre of defence. The 27-year old scored in the Swans’ 2-1 win against Millwall in their last game.
Team News – Huddersfield Town
Ryan Schofield (thumb), Tommy Elphick (knee), Terence Kongolo (foot), Lewis O’Brien (quad), Danny Ward (hamstring), Christopher Schindler (hamstring), Alex Pritchard (quad) and Rarmani Edmonds-Green (hip) are all a doubt for the game against Swansea City.
PREDICTION
Huddersfield Town lead the head to head record against Swansea City. Town have won on 24 occasions; the Swans have won on 16 occasions and there have been 16 draws between them.
However, the Terriers have not won against City since November 2007 with the Swans having an unbeaten run against Town in their last five encounters.
The last team the teams faced off was February this year in last seasons Championship campaign. It finished 3-1 to City at home.
Last season, the two sides finished on opposite ends of the table and they are already on opposite ends of the table this season too.
The Swans have only conceded one goal in their opening four games proving to be solid at the back. They have scored five goals in that time.
Whereas the Terriers have conceded five in that time and have only scored twice.
I feel as though Swansea will prove to be too good for Huddersfield with their squad seeming to consist of a lot more quality and seeming to be in better form.
It appears City will extend their unbeaten run against Town this Saturday.
Therefore, I predict: