Arsenal v Huddersfield Town: Relaxed approach can help Terriers

The Terriers head to the Emirates Stadium on the back of taking just a solitary point from their last five away games, a run that has seen the Yorkshire side fail to score.

With the Gunners having taken a maximum 18 points from their six league outings in North London this term, ending that long wait will not be easy.

But Wagner said: “Statistics do not count once you start playing football. Even positive stats are irrelevant for me. Everyone is aware about Arsenal’s home record and our away record. It looks like our chances are not the highest, but when the game starts these records do not count.

“We will do everything that we can do and see what we can get out of this game.

“The challenges of facing Manchester City and Arsenal are great. But challenges only stay enjoyable if you get something in your hands at the end.

“We had a good challenge and got plenty of experience on Sunday, but lost the game. That is why the feeling was not the best, even though we performed very well defensively.

“What we can do is take confidence from that performance into our next game against another good footballing team.”

Town have two opportunities to improve an away scoring drought that is the club’s worst in the top flight since 1947 this week, with Saturday bringing a trip to Everton.

On paper, the journey to Goodison Park looks the easier of the two, but Wagner is not the sort of head coach to prioritise one fixture over the other.

Instead, the German’s only focus is giving his side the best chance of ending a barren run that stretches to 462 playing minutes, all the way back to the opening-day win over Crystal Palace.

He said: “Apart from Bournemouth (when Town lost 4-0 11 days ago), we have got what we deserved from our away performances so far in the Premier League. We had a very good performance against Palace to get the three points.

“Our performance at Burnley was okay and we got a point, but then we under-performed against West Ham and Swansea. We were okay at Liverpool, but they were stronger than us.

“So, so far we have got out of our away performances what we deserved. Now, we have two further chances to improve our away record. It is important to collect points away from home. To do that, we have to focus on us and our performance. Then, after the game, we want to say we deserved to get something.”

Pressed on why Town’s travelling fans have had to wait so long to see their side score, Wagner added: “The quality of the opponents is part of it.

“But we have had situations where we have created chances and then been unlucky or not relaxed enough to score.”

Wagner is forced into at least one change by Rajiv van la Parra starting a three-game ban following his red card at the end of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.

The Dutch winger, who has appeared in all 13 league games this term, was dismissed for pushing Leroy Sane after the final whistle and he will not be available again until the visit of Chelsea to the West Riding on December 12.

“I had a serious conversation with him before training (on Monday),” said the Huddersfield chief about van la Parra.

“It was an easy conversation because what I had to say was obvious.

“He totally understood and also apologised in front of the players for what he did. So, now, we leave this behind us. I do not want to make it bigger than it is.

“It happened, take a fine and accept it and then carry on.”

Wagner is expected to turn to either Elias Kachunga or Collin Quaner as a replacement for van la Parra, with Tom Ince then switching from the right to the left flank in what will effectively be a 4-3-2-1 formation.

It will be the same set-up that so frustrated Manchester City before Raheem Sterling’s rather fortunate winner with just six minutes remaining.

Town’s players were understandably crestfallen at the final whistle, but Wagner insists there will be no hangover tonight.

He said: “Even if we are successful in games, our first focus is always our performance. The performance was right, the result wasn’t. That can happen.

“What is very important during a busy schedule like this is you leave the last result behind you. On Monday morning, we had two sentences about City and then everything else was about Arsenal.”

Last six games: Arsenal WDLWLW Huddersfield Town LWLWLL.

Referee: G Scott (Oxfordshire).

Last time: Arsenal 2 Huddersfield Town 1; January 30, 2011; FA Cup.