Match Day Thread Swansea City v Huddersfield Town

Swansea City v Huddersfield Town

Competition - Sky Bet Championship
Venue - Liberty Stadium
Date - 22 February 2020
Kick off - 3pm

Following their rollercoaster 4-4 draw at the KCOM Stadium against Hull City, next up for Steve Cooper’s Swansea squad is a home match against Huddersfield.

Last Friday evening, live on Sky Sports, Hull and Swansea had to be content with a point apiece as a remarkable Championship encounter ended 4-4.

Hull snatched a draw through Tom Eaves' 95th-minute goal, dashing Swansea's hopes of claiming a memorable comeback win in the process.

Leo da Silva Lopes' early opener was swiftly cancelled out by Wayne Routledge and it was 1-1 at half-time.

Marcus Maddison scored Hull's second only for Kyle Naughton to level, then Jordon Garrick netted Swansea's third equaliser after Mallik Wilks had put the Tigers in front for a third time.

On-loan Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster scored what looked like being a decisive fourth goal for Swansea only for Eaves to shock Steve Cooper's team right at the end.

Hull are left without a victory in seven league matches and stay 15th, while eleventh-placed Swansea are five points adrift of the play-off places having not won in five. That is the lowest position in the Championship occupied by the Swans this season - a sign of their steady decline since the heady days of August when the Swans topped the table.

The day after the Swans and the Tigers has drawn, Harry Toffolo struck his first goal for Huddersfield Town as the Championship strugglers battled back to earn a late point against Derby County at Pride Park.

Tom Lawrence looked set to earn the Rams a sixth victory in nine games, the winger smashing a superb opener into the top corner after the break following some typical quick thinking from Wayne Rooney.

But Toffolo, who joined the Terriers from boss Danny Cowley's former club Lincoln in January, levelled with nine minutes remaining when he raced into the area and beat keeper Kelle Roos at his near post from a tight angle.

Both sides had chances in the closing stages, Roos denying Chris Willock with a smart stop and Jonas Lossl making a regulation save from a Rooney free-kick.

The draw means Huddersfield remain five points above the relegation zone.

The Swans have played Huddersfield on 55 occasions previously, winning 15, losing 24 and drawing 16.

In the reverse fixture at the John Smiths Stadium in November, the match ended 1-1 after Fulton had given the Swans the lead:

Looking ahead to Saturday, if Cooper selects a team based on width and pace on the flanks, then I think the Swans will win. If not, then I see a repeat of the result at Huddersfield.

 

F*** knows! Best guess: 7 - 5.

We must be due a win.

 

So is Huddersfield, so it’s anyones guess I suppose

 

0-0

 

It’s a must win according to Clueless. We all know that especially at home where we have been starved of goals and entertainment. Will he persist with our no 2 loan player who struggled at Hull on Friday ...can’t spell his name sorry...will he give Garrick and Dhanda starts. They have the pace and the excitemen5 going forward that we are missing so often......

 

Oh go on then 2-1 Swans.

 

I am going even more positive so its 2-0 for me

 

Slightly off the thread with the egg chaser game against France kicking off at 4.45pm I wonder what effect that will have on our crowd? Sadly I think that we will unofficially have our lowest crowd of the season and they will miss us winning handsomely.

 

Only 10 more wins this season should see us safely into the playoff positions.
Should be 9 more after this game.

Two Nil to the Swans.

 

Like the confidence

 

Joe Rodon and Ben Cabango start at centre-half as two of four changes made by Steve Cooper for Swansea City’s clash with Huddersfield.

Rodon and Cabango become the first Welsh centre-half pairing to start a league game for the Swans since Christian Edwards and Kris O’Leary did so against Peterborough in October 1997.

They replace Ben Wilmot and Marc Guehi, with the former dropping to the bench.

Elsewhere, Aldo Kalulu comes in for Bersant Celina on the left flank for the Frenchman’s first league start since August.

Rhian Brewster leads the line for the Swans as Wayne Routledge also drops out of the side that drew at Hull last weekend.

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That means goalkeeper Freddie Woodman lines up behind a back four of Kyle Naughton, Rodon, Cabango and Jake Bidwell.

Captain Matt Grimes is joined by Jay Fulton at the base of the Swans midfield, with a trio of Andre Ayew, Conor Gallagher and Kalulu operating ahead of them.

Brewster is up top for the hosts.

Swansea City: Freddie Woodman; Kyle Naughton, Joe Rodon, Ben Cabango, Jake Bidwell; Jay Fulton, Matt Grimes (captain); Andre Ayew, Conor Gallagher, Aldo Kalulu; Rhian Brewster.

Substitutes: Erwin Mulder, Ben Wilmot, Connor Roberts, Yan Dhanda, Bersant Celina, Jordon Garrick, Liam Cullen.

 

So far so good so what

 

Draw game this for me, though hope we can get a win, desperate for a positive result.......................

 

Typical 1-1

 

2-1 good header by Fulton.....................

 

Will we let Hudders back in again?...............................

 

3-1 good win in the end, at last some positivity on the field.....................

 

Much needed win!!

 

Sitting in the Harvesters car park.

Finally some pace and width. Should have scored more than 1 in the first half.

Thought we dropped a level in first 30 mins of second half, their goal was coming for a while.

That however seemed to spur the Swans on, and once Fulton scored there was only going to be one winner.

Decent performance by Cabango and Rodon, with similarly noteworthy efforts from Ayew, Brewster and Grimes.

Kalulu was very good in the first half.