City’s Back-To-Back Hopes Continue Vs Huddersfield Sunday

The most lopsided matchup of the Gameweek 2 Premier League oddsboard features defending champs Manchester City hosting Huddersfield at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. At the time of writing, City sits as huge -1600 moneyline favorites with the Terriers coming back at +2800 and the draw at +1100. The Citizens are 2.5-goal faves here at -130 while the total sits at 3.5 with OVER priced at -125.

Some might remember last year’s fixture, however, with eerily similar odds and things didn’t go quite as planned for Pep Guardiola and company.

City is the biggest favorite on the board in Gameweek 2 and it could certainly be one of the largest lines of the season. City has been at the center of some unfortunate news this week, however, as they’ll have to make do without one of their superstar players for an extended period.

Let’s take a look at Sunday’s contest.

View Manchester City vs Huddersfield Matchup Page

Attacking Linchpin Out for Man City

Of course, the big news out of Manchester is that playmaking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne suffered a knee injury in training and looks set to miss roughly three months. While City certainly possesses a ton of depth and the quality in the side is unparalleled, this is a major loss for the squad.

The Belgian international tallied eight goals and led the Premier League with 16 assists last season. KDB played in all but one game in 2017-18, which was a 3-1 win over Brighton near the end of the campaign.

This likely means that Ilkay Gündogan will take De Bruyne’s spot in the starting XI from here on out, though the German started the 2-0 win over Arsenal in Gameweek 1 last weekend. That said, it could be the fantastic Bernardo Silva who gets the nod as well.

Gündogan made 30 appearances last Premier League campaign, scoring four goals and adding one assist. That said, Manchester City only lost twice last season, but Gündogan was a starter in both games. Might not mean anything in a home game against lowly Huddersfield, but keep an eye out for spots to fade City while KDB is on the mend.

Could We See a Repeat of the 2017-18 Fixture?

Huddersfield surprised when it managed a 0-0 draw at the Etihad last season despite seeing just 20.8 percent of the possession, completing just 56 percent of its passes and being outshot 15-5. If you backed the draw, you had it around +1000, roughly the same price it is currently being offered at Sportsbook and others.

City dropped points in only six games last season en route to a 100-point campaign and this fixture was one of them. Pep and company dominated the game statistically but certainly lacked a finished product in the final third in trying to break down a five-man Huddersfield defense.

Granted, this match was played toward the end of the season with David Wagner’s side fighting for Premier League survival, but the result will instill a bit of confidence into the side despite coming off a 3-0 home loss to Chelsea last weekend.

Now in no way am I suggesting that I’ll be backing the draw here, but it’s interesting support if you’re looking at taking a wild swing at the fences this weekend.

Road Dogs Without Bite

Huddersfield was one of the poorest outfits away from home last season, managing just 14 points from its 19 away days. On top of that, the Terriers managed to find the back of the net just 12 times in road games and conceded a whopping 33 goals. Not great.

More troubling for Huddersfield in road games, seven of those 12 goals came in just two games. Huddersfield scored three against Crystal Palace and four against Watford. Seven goals in just two games! What else does that mean? Well, the Terriers have been kept off the scoresheet in 13 of those 19 games.

Wagner liked to line up with five at the back on the road against bigger clubs last season (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City) so don’t be surprised to see a very conservative lineup from the German manager.

As chalky as a lot of wagers are on this board, City to keep a clean sheet is right up there at -200 at Sportsbook.