PMB: Huddersfield v Chelsea - talking points and numbers
news
Tue 12 Dec 2017
The second of three games against the
promoted sides in December is a Premier League first for the Blues. Club
historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton have the
details...
Tonight the Blues are aiming to take a fourth successive league win at Huddersfield away from a midweek fixture squeezed in to accommodate World Cup preparations.
The last time Chelsea visited the Colne Valley for the purpose of a top-flight league game, Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move On Up’ and ‘Let Your Yeah Be Yeah’ by the Pioneers were drawing people onto dancefloors, Saturday night television was dominated by Westerns and a wheelchair-using detective called Ironside, and sitcom spin-off ‘On The Buses’ was the surprise smash in cinemas.
The setting was Leeds Road in August 1971 and Huddersfield Town, destined for relegation, were sunk by two Chelsea greats, John Hollins and Peter Osgood (see our We Have History section later today for more on this).
Today’s game is the champions’ maiden visit to the John Smith’s Stadium and our first time ever under floodlights in this corner of West Yorkshire.
TALKING POINTS
Tonight the Blues are aiming to take a fourth successive league win at Huddersfield away from a midweek fixture squeezed in to accommodate World Cup preparations.
The last time Chelsea visited the Colne Valley for the purpose of a top-flight league game, Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move On Up’ and ‘Let Your Yeah Be Yeah’ by the Pioneers were drawing people onto dancefloors, Saturday night television was dominated by Westerns and a wheelchair-using detective called Ironside, and sitcom spin-off ‘On The Buses’ was the surprise smash in cinemas.
The setting was Leeds Road in August 1971 and Huddersfield Town, destined for relegation, were sunk by two Chelsea greats, John Hollins and Peter Osgood (see our We Have History section later today for more on this).
Today’s game is the champions’ maiden visit to the John Smith’s Stadium and our first time ever under floodlights in this corner of West Yorkshire.
KEY STAT
Chelsea visit Huddersfield in a top-flight league game for the first time in 46 years.
The Terriers’ biggest home scalp since rejoining the elite after
almost half a century away was that of Manchester United in October –
their only beating of the Red Devils since 1952. Town claimed a two-goal
lead by half-time in the simplest fashion, then held on after Marcus
Rashford’s late response.
Aaron Mooy scores Huddersfield's first goal against Man United
David Wagner’s side are capable of the same energy, desire and aggression displayed by West Ham three days ago. Chelsea must put the performance at the London Stadium behind us, and show all of our qualities.
Despite fashioning some decent openings against the Hammers and accounting for 72 per cent of possession, the west Londoners were unable to muster a single shot on target in the second half.
It was the third time this season the Blues have gone behind on an away league ground; one ended in a draw and two in defeat. Both losses were in London, and five of Antonio Conte’s nine league defeats since arriving at the club have now come against clubs from the capital: Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, and Crystal Palace, twice. (The others were Liverpool, Man United, Burnley and Man City.) He recently spoke about the added difficulty of multiple London derbies.
The Italian assigned the defeat in part to tiredness after the midweek exertions against Atletico. And in fact the Blues have dropped points in four of the six games after European outings. The setback was mitigated by others dropping points and the Blues retain third spot in the table.
Huddersfield, currently 12th, are the highest placed of the three clubs who joined the Premier League last summer. Brighton are 13th and Newcastle three rungs lower.
Only twice previously have all three promoted sides avoided relegation the following spring: Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham in 2001/02, and Norwich City, Queen’s Park Rangers and Swansea City in 2011/12.
After yesterday’s Champions League draw Conte emphasised that Catalunya can wait: securing a qualifying place in next season’s competition must be the priority, and everyone must give 120 per cent to achieve that.
Bookmakers lengthened both teams’ odds to lift the trophy again following Chelsea’s pairing with our old Barcelona adversaries. The dates of those fixtures against Ernesto Valverde’s Primera leaders are also intriguingly placed in relation to the Premier League champions’ other aspirations this season.
The opening game of the tie, at the Bridge on Tuesday 20 February, falls between a possible FA Cup tie on 17/18 February and, the following weekend, either Manchester United away in the league or potentially the Carabao Cup final. Either side of the decisive leg at Camp Nou on Wednesday 14 March, Chelsea host Crystal Palace in the league and travel to Burnley a week later.
For Barcelona, Eibar away and Girona straddle our first meeting, while Malaga away and Atletico at home bookend their second match.
<section><h2>CHAMPIONS
LEAGUE
CATCH-UP</h2></section><section><h2>Round of 16
opponents Barcelona have not won a Champions League game against any
Chelsea side with 11 men on the
field</h2></section><section><h3>The Blues are
unbeaten in our past seven meetings with the Catalans, comprising two
victories and five
draws</h3></section><section><h3>The winner in
each of our past three encounters – 2006/07, 2008/09 (both Barcelona)
and 2011/12 (Chelsea) – has gone on to win the
competition</h3></section>
This Friday, 15 December, current FA Youth Cup champions Chelsea U18s begin the defence of the trophy at home to Scunthorpe United. The game kicks-off at 7.05pm at Aldershot Town’s stadium. The winners will host West Bromwich Albion U18s in round four.
By the way, when the Blues’ youngsters beat tonight’s hosts Huddersfield 6-1 in the 2014/15 FA Youth Cup, Charly Musonda started the game while Kyle Scott and Kasey Palmer came off the bench. Palmer, now on loan with the Terriers, scored one with Tammy Abraham (2), playing this season at Swansea, and Dominic Solanke (3), now at Liverpool, sharing the rest.
THE BEST THAT CAN HAPPEN THIS EVENING…
A big response to Saturday’s reversal, and back to winning ways.Premier League fixtures
TonightBurnley v Stoke 7.45pm
Crystal Palace v Watford 8pm
Huddersfield v Chelsea 8pm - BT Sport
Wednesday
Newcastle v Everton 7.45pm
Southampton v Leicester 7.45pm
Swansea v Manchester City 7.45pm
Liverpool v West Brom 8pm
Manchester United v Bournemouth 8pm
Tottenham v Brighton 8pm
West Ham v Arsenal 8pm - BT Sport
Premier League clean sheets
David De Gea (Man Utd) 9Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) 7
Ederson (Man City) 7
Petr Cech (Arsenal) 7
Nick Pope (Burnley) 7
Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea) 6
Heurelho Gomes (Watford) 6
Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield) 6
Chelsea in Numbers
The Blues had 69 per cent possession against West Ham, more than in any other game this season. However our two shots on target was our equal lowest alongside the games against Manchester City and Tottenham.
Antonio Conte has a 74 per cent win rate in the Premier League with 40 victories in 54 games.
Chelsea have scored nine headed goals in the Premier League this term, more than any other club.
Eden Hazard has had a hand in 12 goals in his past 12 games in all competitions for Chelsea (eight goals, three assists and one aid, as judged by the club statistician).
Six West Ham players were booked against us on Saturday, more than any other opponent accumulated against Chelsea this term.
Past six games
22 Nov - Qarabag (a) - W 4-0
25 Nov - Liverpool (a) - D 1-1
29 Nov - Swansea (h) - W 1-0
2 Dec - Newcastle (h) - W 3-1
5 Dec - Atletico (h) - D 1-1
9 Dec - West Ham (a) - L 1-0
Premier League scorers
Morata 9, Hazard 5 (1 pen), Alonso 3, Batshuayi 2, Pedro 2, Azpilicueta 1, Bakayoko 1, David Luiz 1, Fabregas 1, Kante 1, Rudiger 1, Willian 1League games since
An away win: 2An away draw: 1
An away defeat: 0
CHELSEA’S NEXT THREE GAMES
Chelsea v Southampton
Premier League
Saturday 16 December
3pm
Premier League
Saturday 16 December
3pm
Chelsea v Bournemouth
Carabao Cup
Wednesday 20 December
7.45pm
Carabao Cup
Wednesday 20 December
7.45pm
Everton v Chelsea
Premier League
Saturday 23 December
12.30pm
Premier League
Saturday 23 December
12.30pm
MILESTONES
<section><h2>(untitled)</h2></section><section><h2>If
selected, Victor Moses will make his 200th career Premier League
appearance.</h2><p><p>(Chelsea 67, Wigan 74, Liverpool
loan 19, Stoke loan 19, West Ham loan
21)</p></p></section><section><h3>Eden
Hazard is one short of 100 combined Premier League goals and
assists</h3><p><p>(62 goals, 37
assists)</p></p></section><section><h3>Cesar
Azpilicueta made his 250th appearance for the club at West
Ham</h3></section>
HUDDERSFIELD IN NUMBERS
Formed 1908
Major trophies
3 league championships, last in 19261 FA Cup in 1922
1 Charity Shield in 1922 (shared with Liverpool)
Huddersfield were the first to win the English League title three times in a row, in 1924, 1925 and 1926.
The Terriers have won three of their past four home games in the Premier League, with the only defeat in this run coming against Manchester City.
David Wagner’s side have won 14 points from a possible 24 at home this season. Their four wins were against Newcastle, Man United, West Brom and Brighton, plus two draws with Southampton and Leicester and two defeats to Tottenham and Man City.
Their 2-0 win against Brighton on Saturday was their first Premier League home victory by greater than a one-goal margin.
Huddersfield have scored the fewest second-half goals in the Premier League (three) and have conceded the most after the break (19).
Huddersfield have not scored in four of their past seven games.
Head Coach David Wagner
Days in charge: 764
Played 104
Won 43
Drawn 20
Lost 41
Days in charge: 764
Played 104
Won 43
Drawn 20
Lost 41
HUDDERSFIELD'S PAST 10 YEAR LEAGUE HISTORY
| Season | Position | Division |
|---|---|---|
| 2007/08 | 10th | League One |
| 2008/09 | 9th | League One |
| 2009/10 | 6th | League One |
| 2010/11 | 3rd | League One |
| 2011/12 | 4th | League One (promoted via play-offs) |
| 2012/13 | 19th | Championship |
| 2013/14 | 17th | Championship |
| 2014/15 | 16th | Championship |
| 2015/16 | 19th | Championship |
| 2016/17 | 5th | Championship (promoted via play-offs) |
HUDDERSFIELD'S PAST SIX GAMES
| 04 Nov | West Brom (h) | W 1-0 |
| 18 Nov | Bournemouth (a) | L 0-4 |
| 26 Nov | Manchester City (h) | L 1-2 |
| 29 Nov | Arsenal (a) | L 0-5 |
| 02 Dec | Everton (a) | L 0-2 |
| 09 Dec | Brighton (h) | W 2-0 |
Premier League scorers
Mounie 4, Depoitre 2, Mooy 2, own goals 2, Van La Parra 1League games since
A home win: 0A home draw: 5
A home defeat: 1
Last Premier League match
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Andre Marriner is officiating his second Blues match of the season. He was the referee in our away defeat to Crystal Palace in October.OTHERWISE ENGAGED
There are no suspensions. Marcos Alonso, Alvaro Morata, and Antonio Rudiger are one caution away from a one-match suspension for receiving five domestic yellow cards. The cut-off this season is 19 league games, so to escape a ban they must evade another yellow until after Everton on 23 December.Visit again later for more Pre-Match Briefing
Share this article
|
Latest News
More News →
Get behind-the-scenes
Join Chelsea TV to watch exclusive Training Ground Reports from our Cobham Training Facility!Join now >
Latest Videos
Chelsea 1 - 1 Atletico Madrid
Join Chelsea TV to watch the full replay & extended highlights…Watch now >
Latest Blog
Comments
Post a Comment