Do Brighton need to think further outside the box? Huddersfield (A) match preview
Anthony Knockaert will look to star for out-of-form Brighton.
Last weekend, Huddersfield Town beat Wolverhampton Wanderers by two-goals-to-nil to make it three games unbeaten for the first time this season, collecting their two first sets of three points in the process. As a result of this recent success, the Terriers have shifted from the very bottom of the table – the relegation zone – to seventeenth position ahead of their home clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.
Mooy celebrates scoring in a 2-0 win over Wolves last weekend.
Brighton themselves have too enjoyed a good run of form at some point this season, enjoying three wins out of three in October with the likes of manager Chris Hughton and goalkeeper Mat Ryan nominated for certain Premier League monthly rewards. However, in recent times – throughout the whole of November in fact – the Seagulls have really struggled, failing to win any of their games against Everton, Cardiff or Leicester.
In particular, the 1-1 final result against Leicester City last Saturday was tough to accept due to the circumstances. After just fifteen minutes, Glenn Murray soared the Seagulls into an early 1-0 lead after he headed a well-delivered corner from Frenchman Anthony Knockaert into the corner, sending the Albion fans into pandemonium. Just thirteen minutes later, things got even better for Brighton as Foxes’ midfielder James Maddison was handed two yellow cards in quick succession – one for stopping Knockaert in his tracks and another for simulation in the penalty area – resulting in his immediate dismissal. This supplied the Albion with a second advantage over their opposition which should have added confidence and dominance to their game, however, the Sussex side lacked ambition; they lacked class throughout the rest of the fixture.
Murray nets home his 7th goal of the season from Knockaert's corner.
After Leicester went a man down, you would expect Hughton to instruct his players to play with a little more enthusiasm and a higher tempo on the attack with the aim to bag a second goal but instead, Hughton went for an entirely different approach — one similar to that of eleven facing eleven. His team retreated to in and around their own penalty area in the desperate hope to defend their lead. At times with all but an isolated Glenn Murray behind the half way line, it was very tough to imagine their lead being strengthened at any point.
Only when Hughton made the choice to bring on Romanian international Florin Andone, did this change. It provided a little more of a threat on his own team’s attacks, however, at this point, Leicester had already grown into the game, gained confidence that they could turn the tie around and in the process, ran Brighton ragged. In all fairness, the Albion defenders did a very good job to keep the ball out of their net for as long as they did and it was only when a very tired Beram Kayal stretched out and caught the leg of substitute Kelechi Iheanacho — resulting in a penalty kick — did Brighton’s fortunes change.
Another attacking substitute brought on by Claude Puel to express his forward-thinking tactics, was Jamie Vardy, who, as expected by his clinical nature, fired the ball home into the net.
Jamie Vardy celebrates in front of the Leicester fans after his equaliser.
It was as if the Seagulls needed that Leicester equaliser to make it clear to them what was required to go on and win the game. In this case, the best form of defence was attack; much like Pep Guardiola’s philosophy. This would have gone against Hughton’s preferred tactics of defence, however, when up against a prolific side like Leicester, you need to keep them as far away from goal as possible.
Even attempting to play more possession football and trying to bring the ball forward rather than backward could have put the game beyond doubt, and in Brighton’s favour. Though, this wasn’t the way the match ended. The referee blew the final whistle – 1-1. Not the way many would’ve imagined it to end judging by the circumstances.
This weekend, Chris Hughton will hope to get his team back onto winning ways but it won’t be an easy task. Huddersfield have a track record of not scoring many goals, but in recent weeks they have proved a lot of critics wrong, taking seven points from a possible nine in their last three matches. Only Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have gained more points in this period so the confidence is at an all-time high at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Brighton’s impressive defensive capabilities will make this match a challenge for the Terriers, too, as Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy tend to be a difficult defensive duo to break down. As a result, both managers will be scratching their heads this week contemplating the best ways tactically that they can break their respective oppositions down.
Shane Duffy (left) and Lewis Dunk (right) have impressed as a duo.
For Brighton, considering how their last match went against Leicester, it may be worth experimenting a little by being a bit more expressive with their style of play. No one will expect Hughton to change his side formation-wise, neither would they expect a more attacking approach than his regular ‘sit back and counter’ mentality. Thus, playing a two-striker formation or even just instructing his players to play more of a possession-based tactic could allow for a surprise to David Wagner and his players. Huddersfield are used to facing up against sides who pass the ball around and tend to sit back so logically there is even more of a reason for Hughton to be expressive with his tactical selections.
Huddersfield, as I said, will look to sit back – very similarly to how Brighton would normally approach games. As a team that’s not the most clinical, Wagner will hope to instil confidence in his side that they can put the ball past Albion keeper Mat Ryan if they make the right decisions on the counter attack by starting a similar eleven, portraying a faith in his attackers. This could be done by restricting how many Another way in which the German coach may look at things is that his side are very talented with attacking set-pieces whereas Brighton – despite having tall centre backs in Dunk and Duffy – statistically concede more goals from set-pieces than most other sides. Thus, I would expect to see Huddersfield sending forward a lot of men for corners and wide free-kicks which could in turn be very dangerous for the opposition. It could though, on the other hand, provide Brighton with the chance to counter attack themselves so this is a risk. However, due to their record from set pieces and judging how tight this game is likely to be – chances will be hard to come across – it may be a risk that they will have to take.
Team News
The home side will be without a number of their players, though, as Chris Löwe is unavailable due to a shoulder injury, Terrence Kongolo is a major doubt after picking up a knock against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, and Laurent Depoitre is to be assessed ahead of the fixture as he has a groin problem.
Brighton have a much cleaner bill of health because of no new concerns, however, Iranian international Alireza Jahanbakhsh remains out of contention with a hamstring injury while Dale Stephens is set to serve the second game of his three-match suspension following a straight-red away at Cardiff two weeks ago.
Statistics (from Opta)
The Sussex team will hope that their good fortunes with injuries at present will be an advantage that sets them above Huddersfield that could possibly help them to scoring two goals or more for the first time in nine games.
In their last eight fixtures, they have only scored a maximum of one goal per match but they have scored consistently, just not often, finding the net once in each of their last six games.
In order to achieve this, they will likely heavily rely on front-man Glenn Murray who has scored 40% of their goals this season.
In the last ten meetings between the two teams, there have been six draws and two wins for either side, an incredible portrayal of how evenly matched they are.
Away at Huddersfield, though, Brighton have struggled, only winning one of their last ten visits – all the way back in the 2012/13 Championship season.
If Huddersfield score on Saturday afternoon, it will be the first time that they have scored in three consecutive home games since December 2017.
It will be a tough match for both sides but if it isn't a draw and one team does come out on top - it could be a match that they look back upon as a crucial one come the end of the season...
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