Kick Off: 1500, 18/02/2017
Stadium: John Smith’s Stadium
Shaun Goater scored in a 1-1 draw the last time Manchester City travelled to Huddersfield 17 years ago, but the Terriers will face a far more expensively-assembled Blues outfit in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.
Nevertheless, David Wagner’s side will go into this clash on a real high following a run of six straight victories and will be hoping City have one eye on next week’s Champions League tie with Monaco.
A Look At Huddersfield’s Betting Odds
Huddersfield cut the gap on Championship leaders Newcastle to just five points after twice coming from behind to win at Rotherham on Tuesday night, with Tommy Smith securing the 3-2 victory in injury time at New York Stadium.
That result epitomised the never-say-die attitude that has driven Town to such a good run of results, with Wagner commenting: “There may be no better way to show the character, the togetherness and the quality which the squad has. We are pushing to be focused, to be happy to work, to see each other again and be hungry for the next game. Not a push for anything in the table.”
Obviously, City are a class apart from the teams Huddersfield have faced this season, but such spirit is hard to quell and there are reasons to believe Town are value at 33/20 to avoid defeat on home turf.
A Look At Manchester City’s Betting Odds
Manchester City looked in disarray when thrashed 4-0 at Everton but they have recovered well from that experience and are now on a run of four straight victories, a sequence which includes nine goals scored and none conceded in trips to Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth.
Pep Guardiola has named strong line-ups in the last two rounds and if he sticks with that philosophy here then Huddersfield will clearly be up against it, but it is a short turnaround from Monday night’s visit to the south coast and Tuesday’s tussle with Monaco must be on the manager’s mind.
The injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus at Vitality Stadium may increase the chances of certain players being wrapped up in cotton wool against a high-tempo team that will try to unsettle the visitors all over the field.
If Huddersfield can keep the pressure on, City could also be caught out trying to play too much football at the back on a pitch which will have been used for rugby league just two nights earlier, so we’re going for a score draw at 19/4 and also like 15/1 for 2-2.
Additional stats
Last result:
Rotherham 2-3 HUDDERSFIELD – Joe Lolley, Elias Kachunga, Tommy Smith
Bournemouth 0-2 MAN CITY – Raheem Sterling, Tyrone Mings (og)
Head-to-head: Huddersfield 1-1 Man City, Man City 0-1 Huddersfield, Huddersfield 1-3 Man City, Man City 0-1 Huddersfield
