Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Watford
uddersfield Town play host to Watford on Saturday afternoon looking for a much-needed victory on the back of being left six points adrift of safety.
Meanwhile, the Hornets make the trip to the John Smith’s Stadium keen to end a run of two straight draws in a bid to remain in touching distance of the top two in the Championship standings.
Huddersfield head coach Mark Fotheringham would have been grateful to have the World Cup break to work with his squad as they bid to move off the bottom of the table.
Although losing 1-0 at Sheffield United last weekend came as a disappointment, there can be positives taken from having pushing the second-placed side in the division on away territory.
At some stage, however, Huddersfield will need to convert more points, something which will be helped if they can start scoring more goals in the final third.
Just three goals have been scored in eight games, although the Terriers have still managed to collect eight points from that run of fixtures.
That highlights the improvements made in defence with Huddersfield not conceding more than twice in a game since shipping three strikes in the opening 45 minutes at Luton Town on October 4.
At the same time, goals for Watford have dried up, the Hornets failing to score in three of their last four fixtures in the Championship.
On a more positive note, Slaven Bilic’s side have kept three successive clean sheets, the foundations being laid for a more consistent period during the second half of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Watford possess one of the most talented forward lines in the division, rendering five goals in six matches as unsatisfactory.
Still, Watford remain in fifth position and with 14 points having been collected from seven matches, that return leaving the club just two points adrift of third-placed Blackburn Rovers.
Huddersfield Town Championship form:
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Watford Championship form:
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We say: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Watford
While Bilic would have been left frustrated by two stalemates in succession, he will be satisfied with the clean sheets. The foundations are there for a talented Watford squad to get back on track on Saturday with Huddersfield coming under increasing pressure to stay in touch with the teams above them.