Solanke, grim history and a tight defence - What Huddersfield Town can expect from Bournemouth clash

Huddersfield Town face one of their biggest tests of the season as Bournemouth come to the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday for a huge clash between two of the top three sides in the Championship.

The Cherries aren’t quite the Death Star Fulham looked like as they have proved themselves prone to a wobble, but as Carlos Corberan himself said they’ve played fewer games than anyone else in the division but are still three points clear in second – quite the side all in.

So Town find themselves in the game of the day again and with good reason. This could go any way really and they all matter. If the Terriers win the race for second is still on, if Bournemouth get over the line it’s really all over on that front – Town would need a three game swing as a minimum from a team who already have three in hand on them.

Fine margins, heavy jeopardy, let’s get into a proper preview of what lay ahead.

Look away now Town fans, history is doing you no favours here. Two wins in ten years, with Town having lost the last five matches – a couple heavily at that. Let’s move on swiftly to something better.

Namely, February 11, 2018, when Town took Bournemouth apart on a Sunday lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League and beat them 4-1. We think there will be two survivors from that game in the squads tomorrow – Jonathan Hogg and Phillip Billing, both Town players at that point. Alex Pritchard opened the scoring, Steve Mounie got another, a Steve Cook own goal and Rajiv Van la Parra penalty rounded out the win. Three fan favourites then, and a lad who now plays for Sunderland.

A lot of people keep saying Bournemouth are there to be shot at and yes, there has been the odd eyebrow raise along the way as their season has gone on. A reality