Huddersfield vs Newcastle Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is the second match of an eight day period that could well define Newcastle’s season. Having won at title rivals Brighton on Tuesday night, they’ll head into trips to Huddersfield and Reading with real belief that this will be the week where they take a firm grip on one of the two automatic promotion spots. They won’t have this game all their own way though and there is potential for goals at both ends.

Huddersfield come into this game following a 5-1 defeat at Man City in the FA Cup but we probably shouldn’t read too much into that game, given the quality of the opposition and the changes the Terriers made. This game was always going to be the priority and they have no reason not to be positive and try to win it. They look virtually guaranteed a play-off place now but to claim automatic promotion, they are going to need lots of wins and this is their best chance to close the gap on the top two.

The Terriers have a great home record this term with 2.38 points per game collected. However, 10 of their 12 home wins have been by just a 1 goal margin and they’ve tended to concede a goal which has meant they’ve struggled to kill off games. Both teams have scored in a huge 69% of their home matches and in 61% of their Championship games overall.

Up against a Newcastle side that has the best goal-scoring record in the division with 1.94 goals per game, they will struggle to keep a clean sheet. The Magpies have scored at least once in 88% of their away matches this term, winning  a very impressive 71% of them to give them easily the best away record in the division. They were perhaps a bit fortunate to come away with 3 points on the South Coast on Tuesday with their equalising goal coming in bizarre circumstances but it could be a huge moment in this Championship season.

Rafa Benitez still has doubts over top scorer Dwight Gayle but there are other players capable of popping up with a goal or two. One of those is Matt Ritchie, who is prolific at this level and has 8 league goals already this term. With 6 goals in his last 10 appearances in all competitions, backing Ritchie to score anytime at 11/4 looks to offer value.

Huddersfield have scored at least once in 94% of their home games this term though so it’s very unlikely to be one-way traffic and backing both teams to score at 5/6 looks a solid bet here.