PREVIEW: SWANSEA CITY (A)

13 October 2020

Everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s game

- Swansea City vs Huddersfield Town preview
- A look at Steve Cooper’s Swans
- Watch the game live on iFollow HTAFC

Huddersfield Town will be looking to go three Sky Bet Championship games unbeaten this weekend when they face Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

The Terriers will make the trip to Wales for the 3pm kick-off on Saturday (17 October) – the first game back after the October international break.

Carlos Corberan’s side will be buoyed by their form going into the break winning their first game of the season against Nottingham Forest before picking up a point against Rotherham United.

Town will now go in the search of their first away win of the season.

THE OPPOSITION

After missing out in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs last season, Steve Cooper’s (below) side will be looking to go one better this time around and gain promotion to the Premier League.

Swansea Cooper.jpg

With that in mind, the Swans have had the kind of start they’d have wanted, picking up 10 points from their first four games.

On their own turf this season, Swansea drew 0-0 with Birmingham City before beating Millwall 2-1 in their last outing. In their first four games, Swansea have scored five goals and conceded just one.

The Swans have had five different scorers this campaign, last year’s top scorer André Ayew got off the mark in their 2-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers. Left-back Jake Bidwell has been their most involved player in terms of goals; he has two assists and one strike to his name.

FORM GUIDE

As aforementioned, Town have picked up four points from their last two goals. Pipa’s last-minute deflected strike at the New York Stadium earned the Terriers a well-deserved point against Rotherham United.

The hosts have kept three clean sheets in four games this season and have picked up 10 points. In their last outing they beat Millwall 2-1, centre-back Ben Cabango scored the winner.

ONES TO WATCH

Jake Bidwell

The defender joined Swansea City in July 2019 and has been a regular for Steve Cooper’s side ever since. The attacking left-back, who can also play at centre-back, has almost matched his assist tally for last season already! He had three to his name during 2019/20 but has already set up two goals for his teammates this year. The 27-year-old bagged in the Club’s last league outing against Millwall.

Swansea Gibbs-White.jpg

Morgan Gibbs-White

Prior to joining Swansea City on loan, Gibbs-White was a player well-known to Steve Cooper due to his involvement with England’s youth teams. He played for the Swans Head Coach in 2017 when England’s U17s lifted the FIFA World Cup. The attack-minded midfielder has impressed for Swansea so far and has one assist and one goal to his name.

Swansea Ayew.jpg

André Ayew

The Ghanaian international is in his second spell with the Welsh Club. The originally joined for the 2015/16 campaign before joining West Ham. He then returned two and a half seasons later. He was the Swans’ top scorer last season bagging 18 in all competitions. He scored his only goal of the current campaign in the win over Wycombe.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

Town’s last win against Swansea City came back in 2007 – six meetings ago! Malvin Kamara scored the only goal of the game at the Liberty Stadium as the Terriers ran out 1-0 winners.

Despite the recent record against the Swans, Town actually hold the advantage in the record books winning 24 of 56 outings! Swansea have won 16 times, whilst 16 games have ended in a draw.

ACTION ELSEWHERE

Our trip to the Liberty Stadium is one of 12 fixtures across the Sky Bet Championship this weekend.

Here’s a look at the full list of games in the division in this round of matches (all kick-offs are 3pm unless stated):

FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER 2020

Derby County vs Watford (7.45pm KO)

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2020

Barnsley vs Bristol City
Birmingham City vs Sheffield Wednesday
Blackburn Rovers vs Nottingham Forest
AFC Bournemouth vs Queens Park Rangers
Brentford vs Coventry City
Luton Town vs Stoke City
Middlesbrough vs Reading
Rotherham United vs Norwich City
Swansea City vs Huddersfield Town
Wycombe Wanderers vs Millwall

SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER 2020

Preston North End vs Cardiff City (Noon KO)

TEAM NEWS

Carlos Corberán will provide an update on his side ahead of Saturday’s game during his virtual press conference on Thursday 15 October 2020.

Town’s Head Coach will likely address the fitness of Tommy Elphick (knee), Terence Kongolo (foot), Lewis O’Brien (quad), Alex Pritchard (quad) Danny Ward (hamstring), Christopher Schindler (hamstring), Ryan Schofield (thumb) and Rarmani Edmonds-Green (hip).

KIT

Town will be in the red away kit for the first time on Saturday – CLICK HERE to get yours!

HOW TO WATCH

With the game being played behind-closed-doors, Town supporters will again be able to watch live and in full on iFollow HTAFC.

Supporters can purchase a Match Pass for £10 – CLICK HERE for more info!

Match Reports

REPORT: SWANSEA 1-2 TOWN

17 October 2020

Huddersfield Town picked up three points away from home for the first time this season following a 2-1 win over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

Josh Koroma’s 67th minute strike restored Town’s lead and turned out to be the winning goal after Andre Ayew’s penalty had cancelled out Harry Toffolo’s opener in the first half.

The victory is Town’s first on the road under Carlos Corberán and a first away from the John Smith’s Stadium since July.

There was one was change to the Terriers line-up from the one that started the last game before the international break, as Christopher Schindler returned from a hamstring problem to captain the side.

Returning to the match day squad alongside him were Alex Pritchard and Lewis O’Brien with the latter fit enough to be included for the first time this season.

Sporting the new red away kit for the first time, the Terriers had to withstand some early pressure from the hosts on a mild mid-Autumn afternoon at the Liberty Stadium.

After palming away a low driven effort from Marc Guehi, Ben Hamer was called into action again in the early exchanges, superbly denying Jamal Lowe one-on-one.

The early barricade from the hosts was being defended by Town as a unit, as this time Christopher Schindler throwing himself in-front of Viktor Gyokeres powered effort to keep the scores level.

Town hadn’t seen much of the other end at the Liberty Stadium in the opening stages but made the most of it when they were down there for the first time on 23 minutes.

Following a short corner on the left, Juninho Bacuna’s powered strike along the ground was flicked in by Harry Toffolo to give Town the lead for the first time on the road this season.

That advantage was unfortunately wiped out, not long after the full-back’s opener. Andre Ayew converted from the penalty spot to level the scores after a coming together between Ben Hamer and Korey Smith inside the box.

The equaliser didn’t knock Town’s spirits, however, as Carlos Corberán’s side went closest to the game’s third goal before the break.

Carel Eiting, making his second Terriers start on loan from Ajax, picked out Josh Koroma at the back post who saw his header grasped by Freddie Woodman after the Swansea ‘keeper scrambled across his line to close down the angle.

Like in the first 45, the second half got off to a frantic start at but this time it was Town who had the barrage of chances at the north end of the ground.

First, Isaac Mbenza drove narrowly wide of the far post after working some space on the right side of the box before hitting the post with a second opportunity less than a few minutes later, with Toffolo’s rebound somehow now finding the bottom corner from close range.

It was the hosts who were in disbelief at how they weren’t ahead shortly after. After Ayew headed wide from a free-kick, Lowe pounced on a misplaced back-pass but skied a rebound after his original effort was stopped by Hamer.

Having avoided that scare, Town made the next chance at the other end pay to restore the lead. The ball broke to Koroma on the edge of the area who kept his head to find the bottom corner and net his first goal for the Terriers.

A welcome return to action for Lewis O’Brien followed as the midfielder made his first appearance of the season, replacing Juninho Bacuna from the bench as Town looked to close out the encounter.

Despite the Swans’ continued persistence, the Terriers put on a resilient showing, keeping chances for the hosts to a minimum as five minutes of stoppage time was added on.

After defending a succession of corners, referee Tony Harrington’s whistle sounded at the Liberty Stadium to confirm all three points for Town and a first away win of the campaign.

Next up for the Terriers is a return to the John Smith’s Stadium to host Derby County in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday 20 October 2020; 7.45pm kick-off.

SWANSEA CITY (3-4-3)

Freddie Woodman; Marc Guehi, Ben Cabango, Kyle Naughton (Liam Cullen, 81’); Jake Bidwell, Matt Grimes (c), Korey Smith, Connor Roberts; Jamal Lowe (Jordan Garrick, 81’), Viktor Gyokeres (Kasey Palmer, 62’), Andre Ayew

Unused subs

Steven Benda; Jay Fulton, Yan Dhanda, Cameron Evans

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (3-5-2)

Ben Hamer; Naby Sarr, Christopher Schindler (c), Richard Stearman; Harry Toffolo, Carel Eiting (Demeaco Duhaney, 85’), Jonathan Hogg, Juninho Bacuna (Lewis O’Brien, 72’), Pipa; Josh Koroma, Isaac Mbenza (Fraizer Campbell, 61’)

Unused subs

Jacob Chapman; Alex Pritchard, Adama Diakhaby, Romoney Crichlow

REFEREE

Tony Harrington