Crystal Palace v Huddersfield preview: Timothy Fosu-Mensah in line for Eagles debut
Saturday 12 August 2017 13:58, UK
Timothy Fosu-Mensah is in line for his Crystal Palace debut as they host Premier League new boys Huddersfield on the opening weekend.
The 19-year-old has reunited with former Ajax boss Frank de Boer at Selhurst Park after he penned a season-long loan deal from Manchester United earlier this week.
The Eagles boss will also make his Premier League managerial debut on Saturday afternoon after joining the club over the summer to replace Sam Allardyce, who helped Crystal Palace survive a relegation battle last term.
They will come up against a new face in their opening fixture, with Huddersfield making their first appearance in the current incarnation of England's top flight after they beat Reading in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final in May.
Terriers boss David Wagner will also taking charge of his first Premier League game and it will be only the second time in the last 13 seasons that two managers face one another in their maiden games, with the other coming on last season's opening day between Claude Puel and Walter Mazzarri.
Team news
Alongside Fosu-Mensah, Crystal Palace could hand debuts to summer recruits Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jairo Riedewald.
However, Yohan Cabaye and James McArthur remain short of match fitness, Bakary Sako has been ruled out with a knock while goalkeepers Wayne Hennessey and Julian Speroni are competing to be De Boer's first choice.
Huddersfield will be without four injured players, although newly-appointed captain Tommy Smith is expected to be fine.
He fractured his foot in the play-off final win and has missed the bulk of pre-season but, after Mark Hudson's retirement, his successor as skipper has declared himself fit to lead the team out at Selhurst Park.
Both Martin Cranie (hip) and Jon Gorenc Stankovic (knee) are long-term absentees but Jonathan Hogg and Nahki Wells (both ankle) have a chance of featuring this month before the international break.
Opta stats
Huddersfield's last top-flight match was in April 1972 and also away at Crystal Palace, when these two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
Palace have won just one of their last 12 competitive games against Huddersfield Town (W1 D7 L4).
Crystal Palace have won only one of their last five opening day matches in the Premier League, losing three of the last four (W1 D1 L3).
De Boer will be the seventh different manager in nine seasons in the dugout for Crystal Palace on opening day in the Premier League (Steve Coppell, Alan Smith, Iain Dowie, Ian Holloway, Keith Millen and Alan Pardew).
The Terriers' last top-flight win was in November 1971 over Brian Clough's Derby, enduring a 22-game winless run after that.
No Huddersfield player has scored for the Terriers in their last 569 minutes of football, since Isaiah Brown scored against Wolves in April. Their only goal in their last five games was an own-goal scored by Sheffield Wednesday's Tom Lees in the Championship play-offs.
Huddersfield full-back Smith registered 10 assists in the Championship last season, five more than any other defender; six of those assists were provided for striker Elias Kachunga.
Palace winger Wilfried Zaha attempted 284 dribbles in the Premier League last season, 86 more than any other player.
Since 2008-09, only four newly promoted sides have won on the opening day in the Premier League - but all, like Huddersfield, had won promotion via the play-offs; Hull in 2008 and 2016, Blackpool in 2010 and West Ham in 2012.
Merson prediction
The fixture computer has been kind to Palace, and not so to Huddersfield. The Terriers haven't been handed one of the big boys on the opening day, instead they travel to a Palace side who will be good going forward under their new manager Frank de Boer. I fear Huddersfield will struggle on the opening day.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Crystal Palace are Sky Bet's 4/5 favourites for the victory with Huddersfield priced at 18/5 while the draw is a 5/2 chance. The Terriers head into the season at the head of the relegation betting at 4/6 while their visitors are 9/2 to face the drop. Christian Benteke leads the first goalscorer betting at 7/2 with Steve Mounie considered the visitors' main threat at 17/2 to break the deadlock.
