F365’s early winner: Huddersfield Town, beating the odds
Huddersfield Town were 55/1 with one bookmaker to win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Another offered odds of 110/1 on David Wagner’s team winning 1-0, while a third gave you 100/1 – markedly less – on Manchester City winning 10-0. If the numbers sound silly, so too was the gap between these two teams.
Yet Huddersfield retain plenty of that West Yorkshire grit. When backs are against the wall in these parts, you roll up your sleeves, allow yourself a quick moan to soothe the soul, and you fight. We assumed that this team would not take a point from their final three matches, but we were wrong. As Mike Dean blew time after five additional minutes, the away end erupted as one. Should Swansea avoid defeat to Southampton on Tuesday, only a Manchester City defeat at St Mary’s on the final day can see Wagner’s team down.
More importantly, Huddersfield have proved that they still believe. The 2-0 home defeat to Everton was so miserable and the atmosphere so flat, that you suspected that all life had drained from this survival bid. Only the flaws of others would see Huddersfield safe. But they are up off their knees and standing tall again. Nobody is ready for this great journey to end just yet.
On occasions such as these, it is customary to dwell on the deficiencies of the bigger, stronger, better and faster team. It goes without saying that Pep Guardiola’s players were not at their best. They were here to pick up their medals and lift the trophy, and the performance gave away as much. Passes went astray, shots went wide and 50:50 challenges were lost. Gabriel Jesus and Kyle Walker were particularly guilty. Kevin De Bruyne with a 78% pass accuracy? Wonders never cease.
Perhaps the sunshine didn’t help. We often accuse footballers of being ‘on the beach’ towards the end of the season, and the heat and tempo of the home team gave the impression of post-season friendly. When you wrap up the league with five games remaining, you earn the right to wind down.
But this was an afternoon on which Huddersfield Town stepped up more than Manchester City lay down. Wagner instructed his team to swarm over City players in possession for the first 20 minutes, attempting to force as many turnovers in the opposition half as possible. It is in these moments that Wagner’s coaching education alongside Jurgen Klopp is obvious. There is another manager who has thwarted Guardiola.
Huddersfield were as likely to score as City in the opening half. They matched their opponents for shots on target, but it was Ederson’s fingertip save from Alex Pritchard’s dipping shot that provided the moment of greatest danger before the break. City were undone too by a clever free-kick move that created a clear opportunity for Florent Hadergjonaj.
Predictably Huddersfield retreated in the second half, and by the last throes of the game had entered siege mode. From the 77th minute onwards, City had 47% of their shots and won 40% of their corners. But they hung on, bravely and gamely. Defending deep is a viable strategy if you are determined, disciplined and defiant.
Resilience is not something that Wagner has been able to achieve away from home. Newcastle United are the only club with fewer away clean sheets, and Huddersfield had last kept an away clean sheet in all competitions on September 23.
This was an opportune time to find inner strength. The club considered most likely to finish bottom of the Premier League last August have been in the bottom three for just seven days all season. They remain determined to beat the odds.
Daniel Storey
