The opening match of the Sky Bet Championship 2022-23 season takes place on Friday night when Huddersfield Town welcome the Championship new boys Burnley to the John Smith’s Stadium to kick a new campaign into life.
Huddersfield missed out on a place in the Premier League when they lost in the play-off final last season so certainly won’t lack for motivation, while Burnley will be looking to return to the Premier League at the first opportunity.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with the build-up beginning at 7pm and kick off coming at 8pm.
Huddersfield Town
The Terriers had a season to remember last term, but as is so often the case the fears are that there will be a play-off hangover. Those fears are probably heightened in their case for a number of reasons, primarily one being that there was a strong sense that they overachieved last season. I’m not going to take anything away from a side who finished third in a tough division after 46 matches but the statistical metrics had them finishing much lower down so they took advantage of plenty of margins that went in their favour.
The big concern for Huddersfield fans heading into the new campaign are that they have lost two of their most important outfield players in Harry Toffolo and Lewis O’Brien and just as importantly they have lost Carlos Corberan from the dugout. When he departed, although his statement didn’t say it is literal terms, there was a feeling that he wasn’t getting backing from the board with Huddersfield having to tighten the purse strings after losing the parachute payments. They have appointed Danny Schofield as boss who is a rookie manager.
Burnley
After threatening the drop in nearly every season they were in the Premier League, the chop finally came the way of Burnley last term. You could say that they paid the price for getting rid of Sean Dyche and now they have to reap what they sow. They have changed manager again, bringing Vincent Kompany in to attempt to lead them back to the Premier League and time will tell how that decision plays out but I’m always wary of foreign managers with no experience of the Championship.
Kompany has had to oversee an exodus of talented players which often comes with a relegation and it might be that the players leaving hasn’t finished yet so whether he can have his side at the level he would want it from the opening game remains to be seen. The likelihood is that they will get stronger as the season progresses, particularly if more players still have to come in before the transfer window closes.
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Team News
Danny Schofield has an injury concern over Matty Pearson ahead of the opening game after the defender picked up a knock in the final pre-season match last week. Danny Ward and Sorba Thomas are likely to be key men.
Burnley have seen a number of players depart with the likes of Nick Pope, Wayne Hennessey, Ben Mee, James Tarkowski, Nathan Collins, Wout Weghorst and Dwight McNeil all a thing of the past while Maxwel Cornet looks set to depart too. New signings Scott Twine, Josh Cullen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis should get their chance to shine.
Betting
I think we might get a tight and cagey game here and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the end outcome is a draw but if there is to be a winner I think it will be Burnley. I can’t say I’m overly caught up on them heading into the season but I really don’t like Huddersfield. There is the odd flash of talent within the squad such as Sorba Thomas but I think there is going to be too much of an overhaul in the way they play which might catch them out especially early doors.
That overhaul might not be a bad thing in time because as I eluded to a number of times late on last term, the underlying numbers didn’t back up their league position so if they do everything the same again the chances are they were naturally going to struggle even allowing for the manager change and players leaving. Kompany is going to have to build a back line at Burnley but if anyone can get a defence organised you’d like to think it would be him. He has signed creative talents in Josh Cullen and Scott Twine and they could be the difference in a tight contest. I expect Burnley to have that extra little bit of class in this one.
Tips
Back Burnley (0AH) to beat Huddersfield Town for a 3/10 stake at 1.79 with BetVictor
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