As the temperatures plummet in England around Christmas time the battle to avoid the drop in the Premier League heats up. On Saturday 23rd December Huddersfield Town welcome Southampton to the John Smith’s Stadium.
This is a crucial fixture for both teams as they aim to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Huddersfield start the match in 19th place, with only Fulham below them in the table. A win would lift them out of the relegation zone and above Southampton in the table, who are currently in 17th place.
A victory for the Saints could see them potentially move 3 points clear of the relegation zone, so there is all to play for in this match.
Huddersfield come into the game having suffered a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Newcastle United last time out. That was a game the home fans were hoping to win but the defeat means the Terriers have now lost each of their last four Premier League matches, which is poor form.
Trends show Huddersfield have been struggling to win games consistently for some time and they have managed just two wins in their last twenty Premier League matches. In addition, Huddersfield have failed to score in eleven of their last fifteen home games in all competitions and the fans have been starved of good attacking play.
Southampton fans on the other hand will start this game full of confidence having seen their team end Arsenal’s long unbeaten last weekend. It was a great 3-2 win at home over the Gunners and Southampton fans will hope their season is going to become one of success under the guidance of new manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl.
However, overall form is still not good and trends show Southampton have won just five of their last forty-two Premier League games. This highlights just how far they have fallen over the past 12 months.
Southampton have lost each of their last four away Premier League games, conceding 13 goals in the process.
Looking ahead to the team news and Huddersfield will have to cope without the injured midfielder Aaron Mooy, who is their main absentee from the game. Mooy is joined on the treatment table by Danny Williams, Tommy Smith and Abdelhamid Sabiri.
Southampton travel north with the injured Sam Gallagher and have doubts over the fitness of several players. Ryan Bertrand, Cedric Soares, Michael Obafemi, Jack Stephens, Nathan Redmond and Mario Lemina face a race to be fit.
Given the poor form of Huddersfield and Southampton’s weak recent away record it is difficult to split the two teams. Both games ended level last season and we could see another draw, with under 2.5 goals being scored.