Match Preview: Huddersfield Town v Brighton

Not many clubs or managers have managed to hold a hoodoo over Chris Hughton since he was appointed Brighton and Hove Albion boss nearly four years ago now. Huddersfield Town are one however.

Since David Wagner took charge in 2015, the Albion have struggled every time they’ve faced the Terriers. While the first two games against a German-led Huddersfield may have resulted in victories, the 2-1 Amex win in February 2016 and the 1-0 triumph seven months later were hardly deserved as our visitors were the better team on both occasions.

Since then, Brighton’s record reads one point from a possible nine and two of our worst performances of the past two seasons delivered at the Galpharm. It’s become an accepted fact that we really struggle against teams that press – Liverpool and Huddersfield last season, Leicester as recently as a week ago even though they were down to 10 men – but even so, there just seems to be something about facing Wagner that brings Brighton out in a cold sweat.

At the start of a huge three game period that features fellow strugglers Crystal Palace on Tuesday and then a trip to Burnley next Saturday, this would be as good a time as any to change that.

Who are Huddersfield Town?
One of the giants of the early game, Huddersfield were the first side to win three English titles in a row when completing the feat between 1924 and 1926. Only Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool having followed in their suit since. They also lifted the FA Cup in 1922 (beating the Albion in a replay on their way to the final) to lay a genuine claim for being the team of the 1920s. Unfortunately, football wouldn’t be invented by Sky Sports for another 70 years so that rich history all gets forgotten about. They’ve spent most of their existence flitting between the top three divisions with a brief spell in League Two in the mid 00’s as they suffered from the same financial woes that many Football League sides did after the collapse of ITV Digital. Things really picked up for the Terriers when they appointed Adolf Hitler’s favourite composer Richard Wagner as their manager in late 2015. Under Wagner, the Terriers were transformed from a struggling Championship club to one who were back in the top flight after a 45 year absence, despite having one of the smallest budgets in the second tier at the time of their promotion.

What are they like now?
If Wagner did an impressive job in getting Huddersfield into the Premier League, then he’s worked miracles by keeping then up last season. While both the Albion and Newcastle United were given fighting chances of staying up by most pundits, the Terriers were written off from the instant they secured promotion with some even predicting that they’d fail to beat Derby County’s famous 11 points of 2008. As it was, they ended up in 16th spot and have every chance of staying up again this season if their victory away at big spending Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend was anything to go by.

Which players should we be worried about?
The jury seems to be very much out on whether Steve Mounie is a Premier League capable striker and he is yet to score so far this season. If that’s going to change in any game it will be against Brighton as the Benin striker seemingly has Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy’s number after scoring three of his seven goals last season in the Terriers meetings with the Albion. Alex Pritchard, the man who famously couldn’t wait for 20 minutes in an M25 traffic jam to join for Brighton and so turned his car around and signed for Norwich City instead, will have a point to prove now he plies his trade at the John Smith’s Stadium while Christopher Schindler is on the list as one of the most underrated defenders in the top flight.

What’s the Albion’s record against Huddersfield Town like?
The Brighton v Huddersfield head-to-head is actually pretty even with the Albion winning 22, losing 18 and drawing 16 of the 56 meetings to date. It doesn’t make for particularly good reading when you look at our recent record at Huddersfield though. 12 times we’ve visited through it’s various guises of the John Smith’s, the Galpharm and the McAlpine and only three times have we come away with victory. Red cards also seem to be quite common as well with Michel Kuipers, Kazenga LuaLua and Dunk all having been dismissed there in the last decade.

What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Huddersfield Town away?
The 2-1 defeat at the Galpharm in December 2010 was pretty shocking on the pitch but that was more than made up for on the train back to King’s Cross after we bumped into Tony Bloom at Huddersfield Station. Not only was the Albion chairman not perturbed by the sight of one member of the travelling party taking a piss over the platform edge, but he actually sacked off his first class ticket to sit with us in the plebs seats and even cheekily helped himself to a couple of cans of Strongbow. On arrival back in London, he then gave the tie he’d been wearing to one of the group who was getting married six days later as a present ahead of the wedding. What a man.

What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Huddersfield Town away?
The sadist in us quite enjoyed the 7-1 defeat in August 2009 for the absolute shambles that it descended into once Kuipers had been shown red. There was nothing redeeming about another Tuesday night trip there two seasons previously, a long drive for an abject display against a mediocre Terriers outfit who ran out 2-1 winners, all but ending Dean Wilkins’ sides hopes of a play off spot.

Whose played for both sides?
The current Huddersfield squad have one familiar name in their ranks in Rajiv van La Para, a winger that Chris Hughton took on-loan from Wolves in the autumn of 2015 before turning down the option of turning that into a permanent deal in favour of signing Anthony Knockaert from Standard Leige. Leon Knight scored goals at third tier level for both clubs in the early part of the last decade while we can only apologise to any Terriers fans reading this for inflicting Elvis Manu on them for a brief loan spell in 2016.

Other than football, what is Huddersfield famous for?
Huddersfield was the centre of many disputes between the Luddites and the mill owners during the Industrial Revolution, which should mean that any Southern Rail guards making the journey feel right at home. It was the birthplace of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson and also has one of the finest stations in the country and not just because it’s a great place to bump into Mr Bloom when urinating in public – it’s a Grade I listed building whose facade is rated second in the country only to St Pancras.

Where’s the betting value for Huddersfield Town v Brighton?
Given the Albion’s terrible record away at Huddersfield, it lies away from backing Hughton’s men. The Terriers are 31/20 to win the game while Brighton’s last three goals have all come from set pieces. With that in mind, the price boost FansBet are offering on Shane Duffy or Lewis Dunk to score anytime at 8/1 looks good value. And through our partnership with FansBet, a percentage of any losses you make when gambling with them will be donated directly back to Seagulls fan causes. Here’s how it works.

Prediction
Unfortunately, it’s hard to see past a Huddersfield win unless Hughton has come up with some master plan to prevent the Albion falling apart every time they are confronted by a side that press. 2-1 to the Terriers.