Tottenham Hotspur vs. Huddersfield: match preview, projected lineups, predictions, and how to watch

Tottenham Hotspur’s performance against Crystal Palace was what great teams are made of. Outside of our center-backs, no Tottenham player was particularly good and some of great players were actually pretty bad — see Christian Eriksen. Yet none of that mattered. On a tight pitch where both Manchester City and Chelsea have dropped points this season, Spurs took care of business and took three points away at Selhurst Park. The game wasn’t pretty, but those three points count just as much as the ones Spurs won against United. Pre-Poch Spurs lose that match. Its another reminder of the wonderful times that the club is enjoying.

With the win Spurs jump into fourth place. A draw for the United and Chelsea match would have been optimal, but Tottenham will settle with Chelsea not adding to their total. In this regard, Spurs are two points ahead of Chelsea, two points behind Liverpool, and four points behind second place United. Tottenham are a whopping ten points ahead of Arsenal in March. It really looks like a tight race between four teams for three spots. Again, Spurs have a desirable schedule in the Premier League going forward, so things are looking optimistic at the moment.

Huddersfield Town are coming to Wembley and would love to throw some doubt into the hearts of the Tottenham support. The Terriers’ last trip to the national stadium was their victory over Reading to gain promotion to the Premiership, so the West Yorkshire club has fond memories of Tottenham’s temporary grounds. Huddersfield Town’s biggest win came against Manchester United in October and the newly promoted side has done pretty well in their first season in the Prem. They’ve had some bad losses to top sides, but have taken care of business when facing the lower half of the league.

Huddersfield will be without Aaron Mooy for Saturday, the fulcrum of their midfield, but a familiar face has popped up for the Terriers to provide flair in their attack. Alex Pritchard, Spurs’ highly touted academy product, came to Huddersfield from Norwich during the January transfer window after ripping up the Championship. David Wagner cited Pritchard as the man of the match in last week’s win against West Brom and he’ll be eager to prove himself against his old club on Saturday. It was not so long ago that Pritchard was projected to be a homegrown success story who should be featuring in the attacking band of Tottenham Hotspur right now. It will interesting to see the twenty-four year old in action two years later against his old club.

In addition to Pritchard, Steve Mounie is Huddersfield’s leading scorer and has been a threat going forward all season. The tricky winger Rajiv van la Parra has featured regularly for the Terriers, while center-back Christopher Schindler has probably been the best and most steady asset for Huddersfield Town this term. With all of this said, its a game that Tottenham really should win. They took care of the Terriers handily in their first meeting and with most of the starting eleven rotated out during Spurs’ midweek FA Cup tie, the lilywhites should be fresh. Look for a straight forward three points on Saturday.

How to Watch

Date/time: Saturday, March 3, 2018, 3:00 p.m. (UK), 10:00 a.m. ET (USA)
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, UK
Official: Mike Jones
TV: NBCSN (USA), not televised (UK), Sportsnet East/West/Pacific/Ontario (Canada), Optus Sport (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also often at BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, and TalkSport

Projected Lineup

Toby Alderweireld has been deemed unfit for Juventus, thus he will definitely be sidelined for Saturday. Other than that, Spurs have an awesomely healthy squad.

The two real questions for Saturday’s lineup is the left back position and the third attacker in the attacking band. Ben Davies is up for rotation, yet that would eliminate him from contention on Wednesday, and Poch has typically preferred Davies over Rose in big games this season. The other question mark is who will start in the attacking band alongside Dele and Eriksen. Lamela has inched his way into the starting spot over Son recently, most likely for the work-rate he can produce against a side like Juventus, but Lucas Moura has also shown pretty well thus far too. All three of these guys played midweek, so one would imagine that whoever starts Saturday is unlikely to play on Wednesday.

My lineup then is as follows: I think Rose will play against Juve so Ben Davies starts with Serge Aurier on Saturday. Jan and Davinson will start in the middle, with Dier and Victor Wanyama in the middle, as I think Moose will be saved for Juve. Eriksen, Dele, and Lucas Moura will start in the attacking band, with Harry Kane up top.

Prediction League

Menno nailed on a perfect 1-0 scoreline and add two points to his top of the league status. Pachniuk, GN Punk, Pardeep, Greenberg, Wertheimer, Patrick, and Giannani all predicted the result too. Its Menno at the front, with Cattry one point behind as we breech March in the Prediction League calendar.

Dustin Menno: Spurs are still undefeated in 2018. I don’t see that changing. 2-0 Tottenham.

Matthew Pachniuk: Without Aaron Mooy, Huddersfield are less cohesive. I root for them because I like David Wagner and they try to play a bit, which is great. Lower half teams that try to play football against Spurs though, usually get run out of the park. Juventus could be leaning on our minds, but I think we are professional enough to take care of business. 3-0 Spurs.

Jake Meador: 3-1 Spurs.

GN Punk: No VAR pun necessary. Spurs thrash em. 4-0

Skipack: Huddersfield are pretty new. Not sure if their money is good here. 3-1 Spurs.

Ed F: Cruddersfield. 3-0 Spurs.

Pardeep Cattry: Spurs > Huddersfield. Sorry, doggies. Tottenham 3-0.

Earl of Shoop: Spurs keep cruising, 3-1.

Alex Greenberg: No VAR, no problem. 4-0 Spurs.

Joel Wertheimer: Uddersfield cowed by Moura. 3-0.

Salmon Chase: TBD

Joe Patrick: I remember back at the beginning of the season when I really put some significant thought into this. Now I’m blindly throwing darts. 3-0 Spurs.

Nathan Giannini: We’re good they’re not 4-0 Spurs.