Huddersfield Town seeking to make most of 'great opportunity' to effectively seal Premier League safety against Sam Allardyce's Everton

Huddersfield Town seeking to make most of 'great opportunity' to effectively seal Premier League safety against Sam Allardyce's Everton
09:32, 28 Apr 2018

Huddersfield can take a big step towards securing Premier League safety on Saturday when they face Everton at the John Smith's Stadium.

The Terriers head into the weekend's action six points clear of the relegation zone, and know three points over Sam Allardyce's side would effectively confirm their top-flight status for another season.

Victory over Newcastle was welcome for Saturday's opponents Everton - taking them up to eighth in the table - but it by no means papered over the cracks that have emerged under Sam Allardyce.

On the pitch, the Blues seem dull and lifeless; the very opposite of a modern football side, if you like, while in the stands, apathy has set in among an increasingly frustrated fanbase. With everything up in air, including Allardyce's future beyond the summer, Everton's remaining opponents will feel they can profit from the ongoing chaos at Goodison Park.

It was thus no surprise to hear Huddersfield manager David Wagner call Saturday's game 'a great opportunity' for his side in Friday's pre-match press conference. Whether or not they grasp that chance is another matter entirely.

Team news

Huddersfield have been dealt a blow ahead of the game with the news that Tom Ince is unavailable through injury. In his absence, Collin Quaner and Rajiv van La Parra should continue on the wings.

Danny Williams and Elias Kachunga are also on the sidelines, although manager Wagner does have an otherwise clean bill of health for the club's first game in two weeks.

Up front, Steve Mounié is likely to edge out Belgian Laurent Depoitre for the lone striking berth in Huddersfield's usual 4-2-3-1.

Visitors Everton, meanwhile, have doubts over Leighton Baines, Morgan Schneiderlin and Dominic Calvert-Lewin ahead of the trip to west Yorkshire. The likes of Cuco Martina and Tom Davies could be in line to profit if first-team regulars Baines and Schneiderlin fail to make it.

Elsewhere, Allardyce is likely to keep faith with the side that beat Newcastle 1-0 on Monday evening, with Theo Walcott and Yannick Bolasie expected to flank Cenk Tosun in something akin to 4-3-3.

Argentina international Ramiro Funes Mori is also pushing for a recall following an extended spell on the sidelines, and the Everton manager hinted in his pre-match press conference that the defender will be given an opportunity to impress at some point between now and the end of the campaign.

What they said

David Wagner (told the Huddersfield Examiner): “We need more points to gain our perfect scenario, to stay up, and we have a great opportunity ahead of us in our own stadium. The focus is this match at home, but I haven’t ruled out taking points off the last few games.

“All I hear is that the town and every supporter can’t wait for this game against Everton - bring it on! Against Everton we will have to make the hard yards and, for the players to do that, they will need the support from the stands.

“Everyone knows what a great opportunity this is for us. It was a great and absolutely fantastic result against Watford, but the job is not done."

Sam Allardyce: "I don’t think anyone expected them (Huddersfield) to be in this position. Their mainstay, like ourselves, is their home form. Our game-plan is to spoil that situation.

"In my first full-game we beat them but they’re a lot better at home than they are away. On the day, as a team, we need to try and expose their weaknesses and nullify their strengths. We need to play away from home as we do at home - if we do that we’ll cause them problems. If we don’t it’ll be hard.

"We can always strive to do better. We started my reign so well that we built up a great expectation that it might even be better than it is now. I think with how hard we’ve all worked behind the scenes we’ve achieved a good way forward in the space of only five months - and it is only five months."

Expected starting lineups and match details

Saturday April 28 (15:00 UK), John Smith's Stadium

Huddersfield: Lössl; Hadergjonaj, Zanka, Schindler, Kongolo; Hogg, Mooy; Quaner, Pritchard, Van La Parra, Mounié

Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin, Rooney; Walcott, Tosun, Bolasie

Prediction

This should be an interesting clash between two markedly different footballing philosophies.

Given the tools at his disposal, David Wagner will have done a remarkable job if he keeps the hosts up this season. The battle between his high-press and Allardyce's 'defend in numbers' mantra will go a long way to deciding the outcome of a game that has infinitely more resting on it for Huddersfield.

If Wagner's men can play at a high tempo and force errors from an ageing Everton backline, they could well emerge triumphant. But equally, should the visitors supply enough quick ball to the wings, the likes of Theo Walcott and Yannick Bolasie have the tools to expose the home backline with regularity.

Everton may have greater quality and the more likely goalscorers, but Huddersfield's need is greater. And that, combined with home advantage, should see them take at least a point here.

Huddersfield 1-1 Everton

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