Top secret Wagner’s plan to beat Klopp

NEIL Warnock admits he would not put money on Cardiff surviving in the Premier League this season.

Bottom-placed City have two points from eight games heading into the crunch home clash with fellow strugglers Fulham on Saturday.

“I think we’re 4-1 on to (go down) and they’ve thrown us to the wolves,” boss Warnock said of the bookmakers’ take on Cardiff’s survival chances.

“If I was a betting man, no I wouldn’t put money on us (to stay up).

“But I wouldn’t have put a penny on us getting promotion last season.

“I would have said ‘keep your money in your pocket, don’t be stupid’.

“But some people won quite a lot of money and might do so again this year.”

Cardiff know a first league win of the season would take them above Fulham on goal difference.

The two sides were promoted from the Sky Bet Championship last term and Cardiff edged Fulham for the second automatic spot, leaving the Cottagers to go up via the play-offs.

Fulham have won only won once this season but Fulham’s Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, the Premier League’s joint second top marksman with five, has scored more goals than the four managed by the entire Cardiff team.

“If we’d had got Mitrovic, we’d be in a better position than we are now,” said Warnock DAVID Wagner says Huddersfield Town’s game plan against Liverpool will remain top secret until kick-off.

Facing his good friend Jurgen Klopp for a third time in the Premier League, Wagner is calling on his team and the fans to be on top form to produced an ‘extraordinary’ result.

A year ago, Town sprang a massive shock by defeating Manchester United at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Now, they are looking for inspiration to chalk a first win of the season, score a first goal on home soil SKY Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted Huddersfield Town to suffer another Premier League defeat at the hands of Liverpool this weekend.

The Reds are third in the table, but are off top spot on goal difference alone, while Town remain 18th and inside the relegation zone. since April and record a first win over Liverpool since Bill Shankly was Town manager in November 1959

Asked if he needs to go against his football philosophy with something different to upset the odds, Wagner smiled: “If I would like to do it, I would not say it!

“We all know that usually, if you play one of the top six, you will not be the team that dominates the game and you will probably not be the team that has more ball possession.

“You will probably not be the team, either, that has more shots and more corners.

The Merseyside club are rumoured to have a number of injury concerns ahead of the clash, but Merson does not believe they will affect Jurgen Klopp’s side enough to alter the result this evening.

In his weekly predictions piece on the Sky Sports website, the former Arsenal man wrote: “There

“So whatever you do against them, you have to make sure you be on your best, you need a little bit of luck and you need an incredible atmosphere in your stadium.

“If then your opponent isn’t on their very, very best then results like we had against Man United can happen.”

Given bookmakers rate Town at 11/1 for a win, how much belief is there in the Town camp they can prosper?

“It is as strong as always because, as I said, in football you can’t take any result for granted,” answered Wagner, who expects Philip Billing to have recovered from an ankle knock suffered with Denmark Under 21s.

“Any result is possible and this opportunity is at home, in front of our home crowd, and this is what I like, for sure.

“I would say this is an advantage for us, even if probably a few other advantages are on Liverpool’s side.”

Wagner, who has ruled out Terence Kongolo, Tommy Smith and Any result is possible and this opportunity is at home, in front of our home crowd, and this is what I like are a few injury problems for Liverpool to deal with heading to Huddersfield.

“Jurgen Klopp gets his side playing at such a high tempo and they play pretty much the same team every week so they are always likely to pick up injuries.

“They have and it seems they have all come at the same time. However, I still think they’ll have too Danny Williams through injury, says he is looking forward to ‘a special game’ against Klopp, who he played alongside for Mainz and worked under in coaching at Borussia Dortmund. “It’s a great game and one where I am really looking forward to it,” said Wagner. “When the fixtures came out I had an eye on it. “It is a special game, for me personally, yes, but also for us as a football club. “We face Liverpool, one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League and one with very good form, unbeaten so far. “And we are playing them in a competitive game in our stadium, in the Premier League. “I can’t see anything where it can be more great, or more exciting. “We will invest everything to take every single supporter behind us and, hopefully, with their support we will be able to deliver something extraordinary.” much for Huddersfield.

“If you are going to have injuries this is the perfect game to have them.

“You don’t want to be playing Manchester United or Chelsea away with an injury crisis.

“Liverpool will be too strong for Huddersfield.

“I just don’t see David Wagner’s side scoring and that’s their problem.”