It’s another round of Carabao Cup fixtures this week, and Huddersfield Town taking on Sunderland might just be the most interesting tie of the round.
Huddersfield Town will travel to the Stadium of Light to take on the Black Cats, who are, of course, now Premier League opposition after their stunning promotion last term.
Under Lee Grant, and with a slew of new signings added this summer, Huddersfield are one of the top promotion candidates in our League One predictions, and there’s a certain weight of expectation around the Yorkshire club now.
Sunderland will be eager to bounce back from their defeat to Burnley at the weekend, and with the home crowd behind them it’ll be a tall order for Huddersfield to progress. But they do have history on their side.
Sunderland badge - Sunderland v Portsmouth - Sky Bet League One Play-Off: First Leg
Photo by Sunderland AFC/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images
Huddersfield Town have a great record against Sunderland
Looking back through the head-to-head record between Sunderland and Huddersfield, at least in the recent past, it’s the Terriers who have the edge.
In the last five meetings, Huddersfield have won three, drawn one, and lost one when facing the Black Cats. They did the double over Sunderland in the 2023/24 campaign despite suffering relegation from the Championship.
Date Result Competition
23 Sep 2003 Sunderland 2-4 Huddersfield Town League Cup
02 Nov 2022 Huddersfield Town 0-2 Sunderland Championship
18 Apr 2023 Sunderland 1-1 Huddersfield Town Championship
29 Nov 2023 Sunderland 1-2 Huddersfield Town Championship
14 Feb 2024 Huddersfield Town 1-0 Sunderland Championship
Among those results is a memorable 4-2 win, which was also at the Stadium of Light and was also in the League Cup. Goals from Tony Carss, Jon Stead, Andy Holdsworth, and Andy Booth were enough to steer the Terriers past the Mackems back in 2003.
Of course, we’re now 12 years on from that result and a lot has changed. Sunderland are now a top flight team and have spent over £140m this summer on 12 new signings.
Huddersfield, meanwhile, are down in League One and have spent around £1m this summer. It’s amazing how much of a gulf there is between the two teams who were in the same division just two years ago, but now, Huddersfield must call on that past magic and produce another win in the cup to show what they’re all about.
Huddersfield Town v Leicester City - Carabao Cup First Round
Photo by George Wood/Getty Images
Huddersfield must show they belong in the second tier
Huddersfield have essentially assembled a League One super team this summer, and we know that chairman Kevin Nagle has a big £47m plan to get his team back to the Championship as soon as possible.
So far, they’ve picked up 12 points from five games and Lee Grant appears to be getting what he wants from his players in the league.
The Terriers made it past Leicester City in the last round, which was a strong signal that they can mix it with the bigger teams in the EFL.
Now, rather than beating a recently relegated team, they’ll need to step up another level and show they can take down a recently promoted Premier League team. It won’t be easy, but the momentum gained from such a result, if it comes, could be massive for Huddersfield.