2019-20 Sky Bet Championship: Week Seven – Sunday

This weekend’s Championship action concludes with a Yorkshire derby as Huddersfield Town takes on Sheffield Wednesday as both clubs begin life under new managers.

A home win will see the Terriers move closer towards safety whilst Wednesday can climb into the top ten if they take all three points in this Yorkshire derby.

 

Team news

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Huddersfield have no injury concerns to report as Danny Cowley prepares to ring the changes in his first match as their manager. 

Sheffield Wednesday are without Fernando Forestieri as he starts a six match ban on racism charges in relation to a pre-season incident. 

Tom Lees (hamstring) and Joe Wildsmith (knee) are also absent for Gary Monk’s first match as the Owls’ new manager. 

 

Form

Huddersfield have taken a point from their opening six league games, scoring in five of those outings with three of their five goals coming from Karlan Grant. 

Sheffield Wednesday have three wins and losses apiece from their opening six league matches, with Steven Fletcher scoring in their last two outings. 

 

Stat Attack

• Huddersfield haven’t beaten Sheffield Wednesday in their last nine meetings (excluding penalty shootouts) since taking a 2-1 win at Hillsborough in November 2013 (D4, L5).
• The Terriers haven’t scored in their last seven home games against Wednesday since taking a 1-0 victory in January 2011 (D3, L4).
• Each of Huddersfield’s last three permanent managers have lost their opening home game in charge. 
• Sheffield Wednesday have taken four points from opening league games under their last three permanent managers (W1, D1, L1), of which all came away from Hillsborough. 
• Should Huddersfield fail to score more than one goal here, they will set a new record of 30 matches in all competitions in which a club has failed to score more than once. 

 

Prediction

Form traditionally goes out of the window in local derbies but this is one unpredictable tie to call, given that both teams are under new management.

We therefore should see a good game because both defences don’t look solid in my opinion, although Huddersfield will be the ones to watch given Cowley’s unpredictable style of play. 

In all honesty, I can’t see a clear winner coming here given the various background factors involved so am going for a draw. 

Prediction: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Result: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday