Cardiff City vs. Huddersfield Town

Cardiff fans - do you fear the bite of the mighty Terriers?
Town fans - do you fear the peck of the mighty Bluebirds?

Town go into this one on the back of their first league win of the season, having previously suffered 3 disappointing stalemates against lesser opposition. It had looked like it could be a similar story, or even worse, on Saturday until a second half performance where we actually took the game to the opposition and looked like we wanted to win the game.

One would assume the players will go down to Wales with some confidence, which is what most would agree has been the main thing missing from them so far this season. A win away at a Championship outfit would improve said confidence even more; although a spirited draw where we hold our own would also be a positive result. Anything other than a resounding defeat would keep confidence and spirits high for the much more important match against Wycombe on Saturday.

Town usually line up in a 4-5-1 system away from home, but cup football is different, and there has to be a winner on the night, so it wouldn’t surprise many people if Lee Clark lined the terriers up in a 4-4-2 formation. Rhodes and Novak combined well on Saturday to score all 3 of Towns goals between them, so could we see Rhovak starting together for the second time in as many matches? My answer would be yes, as I think Clark will go with what worked in the second half on Saturday, more in hope rather than any real confidence. The line-up I therefore see Lee Clark picking is as follows:

Bennett
Hunt McCombe Clarke Naysmith
Ward Gobern Robinson McDermott
Rhodes Novak

Although tickets have very wisely been priced down for this epic League Cup clash, the Town fans travelling down still deserve great credit for doing so on a Tuesday night. It would be a great shame were they to be treated to a trademark snooze fest 4-5-1 away day, so I genuinely hope the gaffer opts for a 4-4-2 and really tests our wits against the kind of opposition we want to be playing week in week out.

The likes of Robbie Earnshaw and Kenny Miller will provide a real threat to the rock solid back line the Terriers are famous for, while the strength and running of Jordan Rhodes combined with the technical magic of Lee Novak will really worry the Championship outfit from Wales. Oh yes people, this promises to be a cracker...