Huddersfield vs Southampton: Preview and predictions
Southampton travel to the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday to take on Huddersfield in their first away fixture of the season.
With a draw and a last-gasp win in the first two league games, Saints fans will be looking for the team to make a statement by bringing three points home from their first away day.
Premier League new boys Huddersfield have signed 11 players so far this summer. Even with this squad overhaul the relegation favourites are already defying the bookies and surprising their opposition. With six points out of six and a midweek cup win the Terriers have earned themselves a perfect start to the campaign.
And with David Wagner at the helm, a young manager with a progressive footballing style, they will be looking forward to their first top flight meeting with the Saints since 1971.
Why Southampton will win
There is no doubt that Saints are playing more entertaining football this season. Despite the two penalties and last minute nature of the win last week, scoring 3 goals in a match isn’t something we have seen from the team in a long while.
However with a disappointingly stale cup performance in midweek, the buzz from Saturday’s late winner has been somewhat killed. I don’t think Pellegrino will stick with his 3-4-3 formation for this game, but I would be surprised if we’ve seen the last of it.
The manager and the players will be keen to bounce back after Wednesday’s defeat, and I expect Pellegrino to make 6 changes to his starting lineup. Mario Lemina is the only injury doubt, and it is unlikely that Wesley Hoedt will drop straight into the first 11.
On paper Saints have a better team, but in reality they are only as good as their performance on the day.
Why Huddersfield will win
Huddersfield’s start to the season has surprised everyone. Following their convincing opening day victory at Crystal Palace, they then went on to prove that the John Smith’s stadium is not going to be an easy place to visit. An excellent 1-0 win over last season’s Championship winners Newcastle puts them joint top of the early standings.
David Wagner has his team pressing high and working hard to good effect, and the belief and momentum built over the last two weeks will serve them well this weekend. Their squad is also an unknown quantity in the Premier League. Aaron Mooy and Steve Mounie are among those already making names for themselves, and by bringing in more experienced European talent the squad is only going to get better.
Confidence will be high as they look to make it 9 points out of 9 (potentially a quarter of the way to safety) and Saints should expect a tough away day.
Next: REACTION: Yoshida extends Southampton stay
Predicted Lineups:
Huddersfield:
Goalkeeper: Jonas Lössl
Defenders: Tommy Smith, Chris Löwe, Christopher Schindler, Mathias Jorgensen
Midfielders: Philip Billing, Aaron Mooy, Rajiv van la Parra, Elias Kachunga, Tom Ince
Strikers: Steve Mounie
Southampton:
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand, Maya Yoshida, Jack Stephens, Cedric
Midfielders: Oriol Romeu, Mario Lemina, Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic, Steven Davis
Strikers: Manolo Gabbiadini
Verdict:
Huddersfield’s perfect record has to come to an end sooner or later, and I think it will happen this weekend. However this isn’t going to be an easy fixture for the Saints, and I’m going to go with a draw. Steve Mounie and Nathan Redmond to star!
Huddersfield 2-2 Southampton