Prediction: Huddersfield vs Newcastle



Verdict: Home win

Best Odds: 6/4

Bookmaker: bet365

Newly-promoted Huddersfield Town enjoyed a dream start to their first ever Premier League campaign and they will now attempt to add few more points to their tally. The Terriers will be up against out-of-sorts Newcastle United, who hope to make amends for the opening loss to Tottenham at St James’ Park.

Huddersfield

Most people are probably unaware of the fact that Huddersfield Town have three consecutive top flight titles to their name, but they’ve spent the last few decades in the lower echelons of England’s league system. However, the club have been making steady progress over the last decade or so that culminated with promotion to the Premier League last summer. As expected, the Terriers opted to seriously reinforce their ranks in the summer transfer window, securing the permanent deal for star player Aaron Mooy, while also adding Tom Ince, Laurent Depoitre, Steve Mounie and Matthias Jorgensen to their ranks. Huddersfield Town produced some promising performances in pre-season, sharing spoils with Stuttgart and Torino, while narrowly losing to Udinese in the three high-profile matches, and they seemed well prepared for the new campaign. That indeed proved to be the case as the Terriers hammered Crystal Palace on the road in their first ever Premier League fixture, showing they are unfazed by the quality of Premier League teams. Huddersfield now need to try and build on that result and create an early advantage in the survival battle.

Team News

With Jon Gorenc Stankovic and Martin Cranie still sidelined through injury, manager David Wagner is unlikely to make any changes to his starting line-up.

Newcastle

Newcastle United did well to return to the Premier League after one season in the Championship, but it appears the Magpies didn’t really make the most of the money they had available for new signings. The likes of Christian Atsu, Florian Lejeune, Javi Manquillo, Mikel Merino, Joselu and Jacob Murphy have so far arrived at St James’ Park, but we haven’t seen anything to suggest that Newcastle United will avoid the relegation tussle this season. The Magpies didn’t do too poorly in pre-season, recording wins over Wolfsburg (3-1) and Hellas Verona (2-0) among others, but they failed to impress in the first competitive fixture of the season. In all fairness to them, the result was still goalless when Jonjo Shelvey received yet another stupid red card for a stamp on Dele Alli, with Spurs making the most of numerical advantage to record a 2-0 triumph. With few more players unavailable for selection, the Magpies are likely to face a tough task against in-form Huddersfield, and there are no doubts the pressure will be on them and not the opposition in Sunday’s game.

Team News

Jonjo Shelvey misses out through suspension, whereas Paul Dummett, Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin are out injured.

Key Factors to Consider

• Both sides won the away fixtures vs Sunday’s opposition last season
• Both teams scored in each of those games
• Huddersfield enjoyed a 3-0 away win on Premier League debut
• Newcastle facing serious selection problems
• The Magpies lost nine of last 11 Premier League games on the road (D2)

Conclusion

Riding the wave of promotion to the Premier League, Huddersfield hammered Crystal Palace a week ago and we fully expect them to also defeat out-of-form Newcastle United at their John Smith’s Stadium. The Magpies are in all sorts of problems at the moment and the lack of confidence is painfully evident.

Verdict: Home win

Best Odds: 6/4

Bookmaker: bet365