Well Bob Peeters has certainly made an impression in the brief time that he has been at The Valley. Four points out of two league games is a very impressive start indeed.
However, like last Saturday, Tuesday night will be an interesting test to see if this Charlton side are capable of having a good season.
Tuesday’s opponents are Derby County, who are expected to have another good season after reaching the play-off final last year.
The OppositionDerby have enjoyed life under Steve McClaren since the ex-England boss took charge of the Rams last September. Not only did he manage to take them to the play-off final, but he also installed a good style of football at the iPro stadium.
McClaren’s side have had a decent start to the season, they defeated Rotherham 1-0 on the opening day and drew 0-0 away at Sheffield Wednesday, last weekend.
The main problem for Derby so far has been the lack of taking their chances. They had a combined total of 21 shots in those two league games and will now be looking to get their shooting boots on, starting at The Valley on Tuesday night.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:Derby:The Rams’ player to watch on Tuesday night is their central midfielder, Will Hughes. The 19-year-old, Boris Johnson lookalike, has been one of the rising stars of the Championship in the last few years. He is a fantastic passer of the ball and has apparently been scouted by the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Liverpool.
If you aren’t aware of his talents, take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeKbc_BqNQMCharlton:The Addicks’ player to watch this weekend is Jordan Cousins. There were question marks over Bob Peeters’ decision to play him from the left, but thus far, Cousins has been impressive in that position.
It’s likely that he’ll start there again Tuesday, so let's hope he'll be able to produce something similar to this once more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZcLPdeZwEThe Line –Up: I was surprised to see that we were unchanged against Wigan from the side that drew with Brentford, however, Peeters’ plan seemed to pay off especially with his substitutions.
One change that will most probably happen, is that Stephen Henderson should miss out through a hamstring injury and if so, his likely replacement is Nick Pope.
The back-four of Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey and Wiggins should continue meaning Morrison, Gomez and Fox will again miss out.
In midfield, Gudmundsson, Jackson, Buyens and Cousins will probably stay unchanged. Although, Lawrie Wilson will be in contention also.
Despite Franck Moussa’s valuable contribution last weekend, I still see Peeters’ lining up with two up-front, especially as the lack of height up-top was noticeable when Tucudean was substituted.
The Prediction:I’ve been on form with the Preview predictions so far, correctly guessing the Brentford and Wigan scoreline.
So (don’t) back a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night.
Comments
Be the above Squad with either Joe Gomez or Lawrie Wilson coming in at Right-Back... just depends on two things
(1) - Is Joe ready for a team like Derby (probably because they'll be a passing team rather than physical etc...)
(2) - Does Bob Peeters see Wilson as an RB or mainly an Midfielder
Perfect time to face them and after beating Wigan on Saturday the lads should go into the match with plenty of confidence, no reason why we cant steal all three points
I know Derby will be
Solly - Bikey - TBH - Fox
----Cousins - Buyens
-Wilson - Moussa - JBG
-------Vetokele
Tricky.
There is also the question of Jackson and the reports he was unwell against Wigan which may also lead to other changes. If we can respond well to those challenges it will be very encouraging.
Can see it being a similar game to Wigan, in the sense that they'll probably have most of the ball and have some tidy passes, but they'll lack end product (going by recent stats).
At the moment I'm wondering what team Bob will send out. I'm hoping TBH and Bikey will partner up again after Saturday.
4-5-1/4-3-3
Pope
Wilson TBH Bikey Wiggins
JBG Jackson Buyens Cousins Moussa
Vetokele
2-0 Charlton.
Nego-Morro-Wood-Fox
Wilson-Gower-Pritch-Harriott
Church-Piggott
Only Joking...
We really have a much better team this season.
1-1
...............................Charlton...........Derby
Defence...................282..................446
Attack......................253...................89
Possession..............-171...................95 (yes that is a minus 171)
Overall Performance 282..................544
Position....................12th..................2nd
Wilson for Solly and Moussa for Jackson will give us 1-1
Solly - Bikey - TBH - Wiggins
----Cousins - Buyens
-Wilson - Moussa - JBG
-------Vetokele
Play this team Bob and we will win 2-1
(Both goals will be underserved/offside/deflections and I will resist getting carried away)
Oh and no manner of lavish vegetarian cuisine on offer around the ground, real ale, plastering of heroes over breeezblock walls or investment on the pitch will make up for the west stand upper seats not being replaced, after all the club knew these would be empty and therefore visible.