Huddersfield vs Liverpool Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battles, Team News, Prediction & More
This Tuesday's encounter sees Liverpool travel to the Kirklees Stadium to take on a struggling Huddersfield without a win in six league games since their 4-1 demolition of Watford over a month ago.
Jurgen Klopp's men were brought back down to earth in brutal fashion after they became the first side to beat Manchester City in the league this season, losing to both Swansea and West Brom in consecutive games whilst also losing star man Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona.
David Wagner's side desperately need to get back to winning ways as we enter the business end of the season, and with just a six point gap separating 10th to 20th in the table, the Terriers need to keep their heads above water or they risk being left behind.
Classic Encounter
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Huddersfield 0-2 Liverpool (FA Cup) 1999
A Huddersfield side managed by current Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce crashed out of the FA Cup in an unlucky 2-0 defeat to a Liverpool side spearheaded by the prolific Michael Owen, whilst a certain Steven Gerrard ran the Reds' midfield.
The Terriers had nine shots on target in the first half alone compared to the Merseyside club's three, and were arguably the better side throughout the game, something that Reds boss Gerard Houllier reinforced when he said "we've beaten them... but we had to play well to beat them".
Titi Camara opened the scoring for Liverpool before Dominic Matteo secured the win in the second half on the counter attack to leave Bruce's side ruing their squandered chances as Liverpool progressed to the fourth round.
Key Battle
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Mohamed Salah vs Scott Malone
Liverpool's Egyptian winger has enjoyed a phenomenal debut season at Anfield, racking up 18 goals in just 23 league games for the Reds, and it seems to be that no defender in England can deal with his clever movement, rapid pace and prolific finishing.
Given that the former Roma man tends to operate on the right hand side, where he often cuts in to devastating effect, Huddersfield's left-back Scott Malone will most likely be tasked with stopping Salah in his tracks, or attempting to at least.
Obviously, Liverpool have a vast array of talent and the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino will pose the Terriers some problems alongside Salah, but if the game becomes a cagey affair, the Egyptian will be the one his teammates turn to.
Team News
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Klopp finds himself in quite a fortunate situation injury wise at the moment, with the German boss without the services of just three players; Ragnar Klavan, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne.
For Huddersfield, Wagner will be without Elias Kachunga until the middle of March after the forward suffered a ligament injury, whilst the Terriers are also missing Martin Cranie, Danny Williams and Jon Gorenc Stankovic through injury.
Potential Huddersfield Starting XI: Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Malone, Ince, Mooy, Hogg, Pritchard, van La Parra, Mounie
Potential Liverpool Starting XI: Karius, Gomez, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Can, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane
Prediction
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The Terriers haven't beaten Liverpool since 1959, and the current form table suggests that this statistic doesn't look like changing anytime soon.
Barring their recent losses to Swansea and West Brom, Liverpool were in exquisite form and currently sit fourth in the table, whereas Huddersfield are without a win in six and sit precariously in 14th place.
Having said that, Huddersfield managed to beat Manchester United for the first time in 65 years earlier this season at the Kirklees Stadium, so never say never.
Huddersfield 1-2 Liverpool
