Huddersfield Town slumped to a third defeat in four matches in the Championship last weekend when they were beaten 2-1 by Yorkshire rivals, Barnsley, at Oakwell and this Saturday’s hosts face a tough task ahead of them despite returning to their John Smith’s Stadium.
Having won just 3 of their last 12 matches in the Championship, it’s probably fair to say that the honeymoon period for Danny Cowley at The Terriers has been served.
His side have suffered recent defeats to Middlesbrough, Stoke city and Barnsley which has left the hosts fifth from bottom in the Championship and just 4 points above the relegation zone.
Huddersfield are therefore by no means out of the woods yet and having won just 4 of their 14 matches to date on home turf at the John Smith’s Stadium so far this season, they’re sure to face a tough examination from Brentford this Saturday.
One thing in Huddersfield’s favour is that they registered a 1-0 win away at Brentford at Griffin Park back in early November, but it’s worth noting that this was when Cowley had first arrived at the Yorkshire club and The Terriers were enjoying a 7-match unbeaten run at the time.
Brentford, by contrast, picked up a third win in four matches last Saturday when they registered a 3-1 home win against London rivals, QPR, which maintained Brentford’s 3rd placed position in the Championship.
Previous wins against Swansea City 3-1 at home and a resounding 4-0 win away at Bristol City have helped The Bees maintain their momentum in the second tier and Thomas Frank’s side are just 6 points adrift of 2nd placed Leeds United ahead of this weekend’s action.
However, the recent win at Bristol City ended a dismal run of 4 matches without a win on their travels which included defeats at Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall, so they’ll need to ensure they produce the same level of intensity that they showed at Ashton Gate last time out on the road.
Perhaps the key difference though between these two teams is the prolific goalscoring exploits of Brentford’s Ollie Watkins who has relished the opportunity to spearhead The Bees’ forward line as he’s plundered a total of 18 goals to date this term, and Brentford therefore possess the firepower to edge the points here.