Relegation-threatened Huddersfield travel to the City Ground to face play-off chasers, Nottingham Forest, in a game that could have serious ramifications for both ends of the Championship table.
With just eight games until the season (finally) comes to an end, the home team are sitting pretty with 61 points (5th) and a four-point gap on Cardiff in 7th, while the travelling terriers dangerously hover just one point off the drop-zone (20th).
Both teams will be looking for their first win since ‘Project Restart’, as football turns out to be more like ‘Project Slow-start’, for most anyway. Huddersfield succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat over fellow relegation battlers Wigan in their first game back, while Forest mustered a 1-1 draw away to Sheffield Wednesday.
Reverse Fixture
Huddersfield ran out narrow winners in the reverse fixture earlier this season, overcoming Forest 2-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium back in December, courtesy of goals from Christopher Schindler and Steve Mounié.
Top Goalscorer
Forest
Lewis Grabban – With a total of 17 goals, Grabban leads the way for Forest and could end the season as one of the whole league’s top scorers, with only two players – Brentford’s Ollie Watkins (23) and Fulham’s Alexander Mitrovic (23) – having netted on more occasions.
Huddersfield
Karlan Grant – After getting four Premier League (‘18/19) goals under his belt, the 22-year-old is one shy of Grabban’s total with 16 Championship notches this season, having scored double that of his clubs next top scorer. With a goal in (almost) every other appearance, the striker keeps proving he could well be the danger man to keep them in the division.
Player to Watch
Joe Lolley (Forest)
Huddersfield fans will be all too familiar with Lolley, as the winger spent four years at the club between 2014 and 2018 – the period in which they reached the promised land of the Premier League. Since he joined Forest in 2018, he’s racked up more than a century of appearances and won their Player of the Season award for ‘18/19. The 27-year-old has eight Championship goals already this season, and after adding the most recent of those in that aforementioned 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, I wouldn’t bet against him doing the business again.
Match Preview by Alfie House.
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