English Premier
2019-02-02 - Chelsea vs Huddersfield Town
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 2nd February 2019 - Kick Off 3pm
Chelsea
The 4-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium was an extremely embarrassing night for Chelsea Football Club who suffered their biggest League loss since 1996. The manager and the players seem to be far from being on the same page and Maurizio Sarri deciding to travel back to London alone and not on the team bus is only underlining the seeming discord between players and manager.
There isn't much time for Chelsea to recover mentally from the total collapse in the second of a game they had been looking the stronger team going into half time. The margin of the loss means Chelsea dropped out of the top four and into 5th place on goal difference, but The Blues have a 7-4-1 record at Stamford Bridge in the League and will be expected to bounce back in this fixture.
Chelsea had won 3 of their previous 4 games in all competitions, but the loss at Bournemouth means they have lost back to back Premier League fixtures. They are unbeaten in 5 games at Stamford Bridge in all competitions and Chelsea have won 4 in a row here.
There are no new injury concerns in the Chelsea squad, but I would expect to see changes after the capitulation on the south coast on Wednesday.
Huddersfield Town
A new manager may have come in, but it was the same old story for Huddersfield Town who were beaten by ten man Everton 0-1 during the week. This is a team who simply don't score enough goals to avoid relegation from the Premier League and Jan Siewert would have had his eyes opened as to how tough a job is in front of him to bring the confidence up even as his team go down.
Results during the week mean Huddersfield Town are now 12 points behind Burnley in 17th place in the Premier League table as relegation looms large. The Terriers have a 1-3-7 away record in the League this season and Huddersfield Town have earned more points on their travels and scored more goals than they have at the John Smith's Stadium.
Huddersfield Town have now failed to win any of their last 12 games in all competitions and they have been beaten in 11 of those games. They had lost 5 in a row on their travels, but Huddersfield Town did earn a goalless draw at Cardiff City in their last away game.
Aaron Mooy could make a start having returned from injury as a substitute on Tuesday. Philip Billing could be available this weekend.
Head to Head
Chelsea won 0-3 at the John Smith's Stadium earlier this season.
The Blues are unbeaten in 3 home games against Huddersfield Town, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with them at Stamford Bridge last season.
Prediction
Any time one of the big clubs is beaten in the manner that Chelsea were at Bournemouth on Wednesday there are going to be some big questions to answer for them.
Losing is one thing, but losing 4-0 at capitulating in the second half like Chelsea did angered the fans and frustrated Maurizio Sarri who looks to be under intense pressure as manager of the club. He has been supported with the signing of Gonzalo Higuain so I don't think there will be a change in the manager's office just yet, but Sarri needs to find a way to get the players onboard with what he is trying to do.
The Italian admitted himself that he wasn't sure how he could motivate the players and a long meeting with them following the defeat to Bournemouth ended with Sarri heading back to London on his own.
Changes will likely be made for this one to try and freshen up the selection and get a spark going, while Chelsea couldn't really have picked a better opponent.
For all the struggles Chelsea are having, Huddersfield Town have been in miserable form and another defeat on Tuesday leaves them firmly rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. Relegation looks inevitable for them now and a lack of goals makes it hard to trust Huddersfield Town to keep any game truly competitive.
In saying that I do have to note that Huddersfield Town have rarely been blown away in recent weeks and they could be appealing to back with the start on the Asian Handicap in this one. Last season they earned a surprise draw at Stamford Bridge, and Huddersfield Town have not been beaten heavily too often.
With the troubles in the home team, Huddersfield Town may find a way to keep this one close and scoring once could be all it takes to do that. Realistically it is hard to see anything but a Chelsea win, but they might be happy to head off with any kind of win and at the moment there is a bit of a negative feeling at Stamford Bridge.
Again I will say it is hard to trust a Huddersfield Town that may be more like a mid-table Championship team than a Premier League one, but having the full two goal start on the Asian Handicap is worth an interest.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea 2-1 Huddersfield Town
