Huddersfield Town vs Chelsea 11/08/18

11 August 2018

After securing the second straight Premier League season with plenty of trouble, Huddersfield Town will open the new campaign against the struggling Chelsea side at the Kirklees Stadium, hoping for a positive outcome that will boost squad morale ahead of the exhausting season. The Terriers started the preparation period with a convincing 4-0 win over Bury after which they encountered five successive failures, losing 3-0 to Accrington, 2-0 to Betis, and 1-0 to Werder Bremen while drawing two times, 0-0 with Dresden and 1-1 with Darmstadt. However, David Wagner’s players stepped up their game in the final stage of the preparations, achieving three impressive victories, 3-1 over Lyon, 2-1 over Bologna, and 3-0 over RB Leipzig, which will have a positive impact on the team that’s facing one of the best English sides at the moment. On the other hand, the Blues will enter the new season under the new manager, as Mauricio Sarri replaced Antonio Conte on the bench. Under the guidance of the former Napoli coach, the London team saw little success this summer, losing to Manchester City by two goals to nil in the Community Shield Final, while they also struggled against Inter, Arsenal, and Lyon at the International Champions Cup, as all of those matches had to be resolved after penalties. The only straight triumph Chelsea achieved after the World Cup was the one against the Australian team, Perth Glory, whom they defeated by a narrow 1-goal margin.

Danny Williams, who suffered a malleolar injury, will be the only Huddersfield player to skip the encounter, while the visitors should start at full strength after Emerson and David Luiz returned to full fitness.