MATCH PREVIEW: WEST BROM (A)

17 September 2019

All the info you need to know ahead of Town’s match at the Hawthorns

- Everything you need to know ahead of West Brom vs Town
- A look at Slaven Bilić’s West Bromwich Albion
- Tickets are still on general sale

Danny Cowley’s Huddersfield Town will travel to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday 22 September 2019 looking for their first Sky Bet Championship win of the season.

The game, which takes place at the Hawthorns, will kick-off at noon and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

The Terriers have won their last two meetings against the Baggies, winning 2-1 at the Hawthorns when the sides last met.

Slaven Bilić side are the only side in the Sky Bet Championship to remain unbeaten after seven games this season – winning three and drawing four.

THE OPPOSITION

Slaven Bilić was appointed as West Bromwich Albion’s Head Coach ahead of the 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship campaign – his first job since departing Al-Ittihad in February 2019.

After being appointed, he brought in a number of players who had a mix of experience and youth. Strikers Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin were among the most notable signings, whilst Romaine Sawyers returned to the Baggies to add some extra creativity to the midfield.

West Brom’s campaign got off to a great start beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 away from home on the opening day before drawing with Millwall.

Wins over Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers followed alongside draws with Reading and Derby County.

Summer signing and centre-back Semi Ajayi earned the Baggies a point in their last outing against Fulham.

The Club currently sits sixth in the Sky Bet Championship table with 13 points from seven games.

ONES TO WATCH

KYLE BARTLEY

Kyle Bartley joined West Bromwich Albion in July 2018 from Swansea City and went on to make 34 appearances in all competitions last season. During the current campaign the commanding centre-half has been a First Team regular and scored in the Club’s 1-1 draw with Millwall.

MATT PHILLIPS

Scotland international Matt Phillips has been with the Baggies since 2016 after joining the Club from QPR. During his four years with WBA, Phillips has played over 90 games and scored over 10 goals. This season he’s the Club’s second top scorer, joint with Kenneth Zohore, with two.

CHARLIE AUSTIN

Striker Charlie Austin joined West Bromwich Albion in the summer from Premier League side Southampton. Following the move, he’s gone on to make four appearances – one off the bench – but is yet to open his account for the Baggies. However during his career, the tenacious striker has bagged 246 goals in 447 games.

TEAM NEWS – WEST BROM

Left-backs Kieran Gibbs and Conor Townsend missed the Club’s game against Fulham last weekend through their respective injuries.

Centre-back Ahmed Hegazi also missed the Fulham game, however, he’s back in training and building up his fitness.

TEAM NEWS – TOWN

Manager Danny Cowley will detail Huddersfield Town’s latest team news at his press conference on Friday 20 September 2019.

Alex Pritchard and Collin Quaner missed the game against Sheffield Wednesday with respective knee and hip injuries.

TICKETS

There are still tickets available for Sunday’s game – CLICK HERE to get yours!

KIT

Town will be wearing their fiery coral kit on Sunday. Buy yours now!

CAR PARKING

Huddersfield Town supporters will be able to park in the Sandwell Academy, however, you must pre-book your space. To do so please CLICK HERE!

SUPPORTER INFORMATION

Please note that all kiosks inside the Hawthorns are CARD ONLY. If you only have cash, then there will be a burger van outside the Stadium that you will be able to use.

iFOLLOW HTAFC

Supporters who can’t make it to the Hawthorns can listen to live commentary from the game on iFollow HTAFC!

All you need to do is purchase a Monthly or Season Pass to tune in live and listen.

Click here to subscribe to iFollow HTAFC!

Please note this game will only be streamed in the following countries:

Europe
Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, San Marino, Ukraine, Vatican City.

Middle East & North Africa
Gaza Strip, South Sudan, West Bank.

Sub-Saharan Africa
Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sao Tome e Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Western Sahara, Zimbabwe.

Asia
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand.

Caribbean
Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, St Barthelemy, St Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha, St Kitts & Nevis, St Martin, St Vincent & the Grenadines, US Virgin Islands.

South America
Falkland Islands.

Oceania
American Samoa, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna.

Match Reports

REPORT: WEST BROM 4-2 TOWN

22 September 2019

Town led twice in the latest game of the Sky Bet Championship season at West Bromwich Albion, but three second-half goals from the hosts condemned the side to defeat in the Midlands.

A first goal in Town colours from Academy graduate Lewis O’Brien and a fifth for top scorer Karlan Grant put the Terriers ahead at the interval, but the Baggies pulled it back with two further goals that new Manager Danny Cowley will have felt were avoidable.

Cowley had spoken in detail about the need for a different style of play on the road and that was evident from the first whistle, with Town’s midfield holding a narrower shape to deny the Baggies space in the centre of the pitch.

When possible, the forwards – alongside O’Brien and Trevoh Chalobah – still pressed West Brom’s defenders.

West Brom’s strength was in attack, with long-time nemesis Charlie Austin leading the line, ably supported by Matt Phillips, winger Matheus Pereira and creators Romaine Sawyers and Filip Krovinović.

Austin was close to opening the scoring in the 11th minute after Sawyers released impressive right back Darnell Furlong into space. He intelligently pulled the ball back to pick out the striker, but thankfully Town skipper Christopher Schindler read that intention and got across to block the shot.

Then came the Town opener, and O’Brien’s first for the Club. Kamil Grabara initially mishit a goal kick into the packed midfield, with the 20-year-old picking up the loose ball and distributing quickly to the left for Fraizer Campbell. The experienced striker turned inside cleverly before slipping a return pass to O’Brien, who charged towards the edge of the box before thumping an unstoppable low drive into the bottom corner.

The celebrations showed what that goal meant to the Academy graduate and his teammates.

Unfortunately, West Brom equalised just three minutes later. Furlong isolated Kongolo and nutmegged the Town man before picking out Austin in the middle again; the striker had his back to goal, so he pushed the ball back to Phillips, whose first time shot found the bottom corner, kissing the post on its way in.

The leveller buoyed West Brom, and Furlong was soon in the action again – climbing above Grant to head Pereira’s cross straight at Grabara.

Town continued to show good discipline and were rewarded with a clinical 36th minute goal to give them the lead at the interval. A poor West Brom clearance saw the ball end up with Kachunga on the right and the German drove infield before picking out Grant’s run into the box with a superb outside-of-the-boot pass.

The former Charlton man showed great strength to hold off the last defender before prodding past the onrushing goalkeeper for his fifth of the season.

West Brom made the running in the second half and had a few good opportunities before eventually netting three goals.

The ever-dangerous Phillips toed the ball over the bar from a good position in the penalty area early on, before both centre backs combined to snuff out another Austin snapshot.

Phillips then clipped the outside of the far post with an in-swinging cross that evaded everyone in the penalty area.

Grabara came to Town’s rescue just before the hour mark, pulling off a great save to deny Austin after he got across the front post to meet Furlong’s cross.

Jake Livermore hit a volley just wide of target after some great initial defending in the area from Tommy Elphick before Grabara was needed again to push another Phillips effort wide.

Sadly, the goals did start to flow with 20 minutes left. The first came from a corner on the Town right, with Phillips, Pereira and Diangana working a three-on-two to get the latter clear, who crossed onto the head of Furlong. He made no mistake, heading in off the near post.

Five minutes later, West Brom took the lead for the first time in the game. West Ham loanee Diangana was at the heart of the move again, with the substitute collecting a poor pass before driving past Hogg and Hadergjonaj and pulling the ball back perfectly for Phillips to side-foot home.

Town’s best chance of the half followed barely a minute later when Jaden Brown, on for the injured Kongolo, delivered a deep cross that left back Ferguson got underneath. The ball dropped to Kachunga, but his powerful volley cross goal had too much on it and Steve Mounié couldn’t get near it.

The fourth and final West Brom goal came with a minute of normal time remaining when the tallest player on the pitch, centre back Semi Ajayi, found space at the back post to head home.

Town’s team (4-3-3)
Kamil Grabara; Terence Kongolo (Jaden Brown, 63’), Christopher Schindler (c), Tommy Elphick, Florent Hadergjonaj; Lewis O’Brien (Adama Diakhaby, 83’), Jonathan Hogg, Trevoh Chalobah; Karlan Grant, Fraizer Campbell (Steve Mounié, 65’), Elias Kachunga

Unused substitutes
Ryan Schofield; Juninho Bacuna, Isaac Mbenza, Jon Gorenc Stanković

Attendance
23,977

Town fans
1,107

Standings