Tenacious Terriers will try to keep things tight against Liverpool

Premier League
BT Sport 1, 5.30pm Saturday

It's an old pals’ love-in at the John Smith’s Stadium where Huddersfield boss David Wagner will be praying that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool go easy on him in a match which many punters have identified as the weekend’s away banker.

Klopp showed his former Dortmund colleague no mercy last season as Liverpool chalked up a pair of 3-0 wins.

Huddersfield probably didn’t deserve the margin of defeat in either game but a third successive clear-cut triumph for Klopp’s men is widely anticipated and another 3-0 triumph is a 7-1 chance.

The nil part of that projected scoreline would hardly be a surprise. Patient Town fans have yet to see their side score a goal at home this season.

But the three for Liverpool? They haven’t scored three goals in their last four matches combined and haven’t notched three on the road in the Premier League since this fixture last season in January.

That makes it incredibly hard to muster any sort of enthusiasm for backing the visitors at 1-3. They are without a win in four games and notwithstanding the fact that those four assignments were against Chelsea, Chelsea, Napoli and Manchester City, Liverpool haven’t been at their best.

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Huddersfield probably aren’t as dire as a record of played eight, won none, lost five might imply.

Town die-hards will tell you that the Terriers are no worse than last term when they got off to a flying start straight after promotion. This match 12 months ago, their ninth of the campaign, saw them beat Manchester United 2-1 to take them to the dizzy heights of 12 points. Since then they have won only six more times.

That makes it incredibly hard to muster any sort of enthusiasm for backing the visitors at 1-3. They are without a win in four games and notwithstanding the fact that those four assignments were against Chelsea, Chelsea, Napoli and Manchester City, Liverpool haven’t been at their best.

Huddersfield probably aren’t as dire as a record of played eight, won none, lost five might imply.

Town die-hards will tell you that the Terriers are no worse than last term when they got off to a flying start straight after promotion. This match 12 months ago, their ninth of the campaign, saw them beat Manchester United 2-1 to take them to the dizzy heights of 12 points. Since then they have won only six more times.

They look solid enough at the back and keep the ball nicely through midfield but they are absolutely bereft of ideas in the final third and they don’t boast a decent frontman. It’s pretty simple.

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They have scored four goals this season, two from long throws and one from a corner. The only one from open play was Christopher Schindler’s strike in the 1-1 draw at Burnley before the international break, a match in which Huddersfield looked really tidy.

But 20 shots on target in eight matches, the lowest haul in the top division, is a damning indictment of their potency.

All of which, even allowing for the fact that Liverpool have failed to win any of their last six against sides in the relegation places, means Huddersfield are hard to fancy despite their big price.

Certainly Liverpool’s much-heralded injury crisis is nothing of the sort with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah set to start and Daniel Sturridge hardly a poor replacement for Sadio Mane.

Liverpool may well win narrowly but there is little value in that betting angle.

Under 8.5 corners could be something to consider as there were five in this fixture last season and Huddersfield, 18th in the league table, have conceded the sixth-fewest corners in the top flight. Both teams average under five corners per game.

Recommendation
Under 8.5 corners
1pt 13-8 Sky Bet

Bet on this game at Soccerbase.com

Team news
Huddersfield
Tommy Smith, Terence Kongolo and Danny Williams are out. Isaac Mbenza is a doubt. Phil Billing and Ramadan Sobhi are fit after layoffs.

Liverpool
Naby Keita and Sadio Mane are likely non-starters. Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Divock Origi are out. Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk, injured on international duty, are fit. James Milner is a doubt.

Key stat
Only Manchester City (16) have faced fewer shots on target in the Premier League this season than Liverpool’s 21.

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