Huddersfield face Manchester City in the first game of the post-Wagner era

Huddersfield Town will play their first game since manager David Wagner left the club by mutual consent and the games don’t get much tougher than facing a title-chasing Manchester City side as they don at the John Smith’s Stadium on Sunday.

After the game the Terriers will name their new permanent boss, but for the time being Mark Hudson is in charge for the clash again the champions.

Hudson will have most of the first team personnel available for the weekend, but Aaron Mooy will still be missing with a knee injury – his return is expected at the end of the month. New signing Jason Puncheon will be available after making his Premier League debut for Huddersfield in their 0-0 stalemate against Cardiff City.

A gauntlet is facing the west Yorkshire side as they have Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal in their near future and with them already eight points off safety, their fate will almost certainly be sealed unless they secure some improbable results.

Goals have been a problem for the Premier League’s bottom team, they have found the net just once in their last four games in all competitions and are actively looking for help up front in the January window.

Finding the net has not been a problem for Pep Guardiola’s men – it never is. City have scored 21 goals in their last four games in all competitions. 16 of those goals came in a 7-0 thrashing of Rotherham in the FA Cup before they humiliated Burton Albion 9-0 in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

The Champions have few injuries for Sunday’s contest but Vincent Kompany and Benjamin Mendy will restrict Guardiola’s options at the back as the pair recover from injury. Both are expected to be back by the end of January.

Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus may be in line to start again after a superb performance in their 3-0 victory over Wolves in which the 21-year-old bagged a brace.

City still have four games remaining in January – the second leg of the Carabao Cup against Burton before an FA Cup fourth round tie against Burnley is followed up with a trip to St. James’ Park to face a struggling Newcastle United side – which will perhaps lead to Guardiola tinkering with his team to keep them fresh. The Catalan boss has already ruled out any incomings in the winter window, seemingly content with what he already has.

A victory for Huddersfield would be one of the great shocks of the Premier League era, but stranger things have happened in football, City will be focused on keeping up the pressure on table-toppers Liverpool, however, and Guardiola will be keen to ensure his team are not the victims of a great shock.