Match pack: Huddersfield (A)

Huddersfield v AFC Bournemouth

Saturday 9 March

Premier League, 3pm

John Smith’s Stadium

AFC Bournemouth have experienced differing fortunes against Huddersfield, both at Leeds Road and the Kirklees Stadium.

The Cherries had to wait until April 1988 for their first win in the West Yorkshire town, with goals from Shaun Close and Trevor Aylott sealing the points in their penultimate away game in their first season in the second flight.

Prior to that, eight visits to the Terriers’ former headquarters at Leeds Road – now a retail park – had yielded five draws and three defeats in the bottom two divisions.

Following relegation in 1990, goals from Shaun Teale, Luther Blissett and Gavin Peacock saw Harry Redknapp’s men triumph 3-1 at the venue in October 1990 before Efan Ekoku netted the only goal as Tony Pulis led the Cherries to victory in January 1993.

After moving to a new home in 1994, the Terriers enjoyed the upper hand over the Cherries at the Kirklees Stadium – which has had three different sponsors.

Huddersfield won both games when it was known as the Alfred McAlpine Stadium and remained unbeaten in the first six matches after it had been renamed the Galpharm Stadium, including an epic 3-3 draw in the second leg of the League One play-off semi-final in May 2011.

The tide turned when Harry Arter’s goal at the Galpharm in December 2011 earned the Cherries their first win on Huddersfield soil since 1993.

Since being renamed the John Smith’s Stadium, the Cherries have won one and lost two at the venue, a chastening 5-1 defeat in August 2013 coming just a fortnight after Eddie Howe’s team had lost 6-1 at Watford in their first away game following promotion to the Championship.

However, Marc Pugh’s early opener, a debut double from Callum Wilson and a Yann Kermorgant effort set up a 4-0 win on the first day of the 2014/15 campaign, a victory which ultimately paved the way for promotion to the Premier League.

But the Cherries’ only top-flight encounter at the John Smith’s Stadium ended in a disappointing 4-1 reverse in February 2018 with Junior Stanislas’s goal proving a mere consolation.

LAST TIME OUT

Brighton 1-0 Huddersfield

Huddersfield head coach Jan Siewert failed to hide his disappointment following their narrow defeat at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Substitute Florin Andone’s header earned the Seagulls a first home win of 2019 as the Terriers missed the opportunity to follow up their midweek win over Wolves.

Andone powered Anthony Knockaert’s cross past Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl 11 minutes from time as defeat saw the visitors remain 13 points from safety.

The Terriers, who had ended a 14-match winless run with victory over Wolves, had been the better side for much of the first half.

Siewert said: “I’m totally angry. We lost the game because of a free-kick. We had chances and defended well. After such a massive game against Wolves, we definitely should have got something from the game.

“We had many possibilities, especially on the counter, but didn’t finish them. We have to learn that just one situation in the Premier League changes games.”

2018-19 TOP SCORER

Zanka (Mathias Jorgensen) – 3 goals in all competitions

THE MANAGER

Jan Siewert

Former Borussia Dortmund coach Jan Siewert has taken charge of six Premier League games since replacing David Wagner at the end of January.

Siewert hung up his boots in 2009 following spells with a number of lower-league clubs in Germany, including four years at TuS Mayen.

Before his appointment, the 36-year-old had been coaching Dortmund’s second team in Regionalliga West – the fourth tier of German football – a role Wagner had held prior to taking over at Huddersfield in 2015.

Siewert, who succeeded Norwich boss Daniel Farke at Dortmund, managed Rot-Weiss Essen, another German fourth tier outfit, and was assistant boss at Bochum, who are in the second flight.

His first coaching role came in 2013 as an assistant manager to Christian Wuck who was in charge of Germany’s under-18 national team.

Siewert was in the set-up for 20 games before joining up with the under-17 squad as assistant to Gertjan Verbeek – he also followed Verbeek to RW Essen.

Following a short spell with Bochum as assistant, the German was given the chance to take charge of their under-19 team and impressed enough to see Dortmund offer him the manager’s role of their second team, a role he held since July 2017.

Siewert signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Huddersfield and became the Premier League’s youngest manager and the second youngest in England.

KEY STATS

• Huddersfield have lost 14 of their past 16 Premier League games.
• Only Derby in 2007/08 (14) scored fewer goals after 29 games of a Premier League season than Huddersfield this season (15).
• Terriers goalkeeper Jonas Lossl (4) has kept one more clean sheet than Arsenal’s Bernd Leno (3), having played three more Premier League games than the Gunners stopper.
• Huddersfield have only scored eight goals on their travels this season. Should they finish the season without scoring another away goal, they will equal the fewest Premier League away goals scored in one season with Middlesbrough (1995/96), Southampton (1998/99), Sheffield United (2006/07) and Derby County (2007/08).
• At home, the Terriers have only managed seven Premier League goals this season. The Premier League record for fewest goals scored at home in one season is Manchester City with ten in 2006/07.
• There have been plenty of goals in the three Premier League meetings between Bournemouth and Huddersfield (4, 5, and 3). The 4-1 win over Bournemouth last season still stands at the club's biggest home Premier League win.
• Defender Mathias Jorgensen is Huddersfield's top scorer in the Premier League this season with three goals.
• Callum Wilson is the top scorer in this fixture in the Premier League with four goals in the three games.
• Bournemouth have faced Huddersfield on 52 occasions since 1973, winning 15 games, drawing 18 and losing 19.