Huddersfield v Burnley tactical preview

Football is finally back folks as the Championship returns this Friday with Huddersfield hosting Burnley.

With two new managers in the dugouts and plenty of new players to bed in, this has all the makings of a classic Championship opener. 

 

Huddersfield 

Perhaps the biggest shock at Huddersfield over the summer was the departure of head coach Carlos Corberan.  

During his second season in charge, he guided Huddersfield to third in the Championship and ultimately just fell short in the final against Nottingham Forest. 

Huddersfield enjoyed the longest unbeaten run in the Championship with an unbeaten record that stretched to 17 matches. 

From the side which started at Wembley, six players are no longer at the club including last season’s player of the year, Lewis O'Brien. 

Huddersfield opted for the internal appointment of Danny Schofield and time will tell if is the correct decision. 

One player who will be crucial for Huddersfield once again will be goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, who was one of the finest shot-stoppers in the Championship last season. 

His save percentage of 78.3% ranks him as the third-best keeper from last season. 

The Terriers have added to their defensive options this summer with the addition of Yuta Nakayama from PEC Zwolle.  

In the Eredivisie Nakayama averaged 1.9 tackles, 1.3 interceptions, 2.8 clearances and four aerials won per game. 

Huddersfield only conceded an average of 1.02 goals per game last season and Nakayama will look to keep things just as tight this time around. 

 

Burnley 

Burnley are also a fascinating team to watch out for heading into this season as Vincent Kompany has gone about rebuilding the squad in his image.  

At Anderlecht, Kompany often set his sides up in a 4-4-2 formation, but not exactly the set-up you’d associate with Sean Dyche’s Burnley. 

In possession, a holding midfielder would often drop in to the defence to form a back three, which then allowed the full-backs to push on and the wingers to invert. 

For this reason, someone like Connor Roberts could get a lot of joy down the right-hand side for Burnley. 

At Swansea, Roberts was one of the most progressive wing-backs in the league and Burnley fans are yet to really see this side of him. 

In the 20/21 season, Roberts was involved in 12 goals and averaged 0.27 goal involvements per 90.  

The addition of Arijanet Muric from Manchester City is also a fascinating addition to Burnley’s goalkeeping department. 

Any keeper would have a tough job of following Nick Pope, but Muric might be the perfect man for Burnley. 

Having been at Manchester City since 2015 he will be used to having the ball at his feet and he has gained a wealth of experience through the loan moves he has had in his career so far. 

Muric struggled last time he was in the Championship back in 2019/20 with Nottingham Forest as he only managed to make four appearances and had a save percentage of just 66.7%.  

Plenty has happened since then though and last season he was one of the best goalkeepers in the Turkish Super League. 

He kept eight clean sheets in 31 appearances and had the third highest save percentage in the league at 78.9%. 

 

Head-to-head record 

These two sides did meet earlier in the year in the FA Cup and Huddersfield came out on top with a 2-1 victory at Turf Moore. 

The last time they met in the league was in 2019 and Burnley took the spoils that day with a 2-1 away victory. 

Historically it is Burnley who have the edge in this tie as they have won 34 games against Huddersfield, compared to their 28 wins against Burnley. 

The opening fixture will be made even more interesting with Kompany coming up against Schofield for the first time and hopefully, it won’t disappoint.