When Birmingham City plays Huddersfield Town in their Championship relegation matchup on Saturday, they need to be mindful of the threat the Terriers represent from set pieces.
The Blues know that if they can secure their fourth away victory of the season, they will knock the Terriers out of the playoff picture and advance their own fight for safety to the very end.
They also go knowing they have to attack better than they did in the disappointing 0-0 draw with Rotherham United last weekend, even if they have only given up three goals in their last five games, two of which came against champions elect Leicester City.
Luckily, Huddersfield is undoubtedly beatable; however, they can also pose a threat from free kicks and corners. On our Keep Right On podcast, Terriers writer Steven Chicken evaluated the team’s advantages and disadvantages. He began with a startling number.
Set pieces have proven to be one of their strong points in recent years. As has been the case since he joined the squad in 2021, Sorba Thomas is an amazing set piece player with very, very good figures. His set pieces have been the source of many of their goals this season.
“Every game there will be a couple when he hits the first man or puts it straight out of a corner, but when he does it perfectly, it’s absolutely spot on. He doesn’t nail them all.
Michal Helik leads them in goals scored with nine this season, which says it all. He plays center back. This season, Thomas’ set pieces have probably been worth 12 or 15 points. With 13 goals from set pieces—only five clubs have scored more from dead balls—Huddersfield is among the best teams in these few statistics.
“To be honest, though, they’re not very good at defending them; they’re just mediocre at it.”
Steven continues by saying that Town’s defense has other problems. “I adore Matty Pearson; he’s a very gifted center back, but due to injuries and personal preference, he’s had to play full back, and he hasn’t played well in a few recent games.
“There are undoubtedly methods to get at them; they offer teams a lot of tap-ins and consistently give up the same goal, even after André Breitenreiter joined the team, which has drove him crazy. Positionally speaking, some center backs will switch off if you can get behind the full backs and cut it back from the byline.
But more than anything, I believe that you should merely oppose them since their attack doesn’t give much. You can be sure that Huddersfield will eventually punch themselves out if you can contain them and prevent them from scoring, which most teams have found to be not that difficult, or if they do score, they won’t score more than one.
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