Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Huddersfield Town and top-of-the-table Manchester City at the John Smith's Stadium.
Huddersfield have enjoyed an impressive start to life in the top flight so far and come into this match sitting 10th in the table with a five-point gap separating them from the relegation zone.
However, they welcome a rampant City side this afternoon, with the runaway league leaders having won a club-record 17 matches in a row across all competitions, 10 of which have come in the Premier League.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute coverage below.
If you had offered Huddersfield a top-half place after 12 games of their first season in the Premier League then they would have snapped your hand off, but today they come up against a different beast altogether - a Manchester City in relentlessly devastating form who are looking for an incredible 18th win in a row across all competitions.
Before we take an in-depth look at whether the Terriers can be the team to stop them, let's first check out the team news...
Well, we'll have a look at the hosts in a moment, but let's start with the headline news as Gabriel Jesus is left out of the Man City starting lineup in favour of Sergio Aguero leading the line. Guardiola earlier this week suggested that the duo would not play together until Benjamin Mendy was back from injury, only to backtrack on those comments yesterday, but he has once again opted for just the one striker and it is Aguero who gets the nod today.
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When Aguero is the man replacing him, though, there is a degree of understanding as the club's record scorer has also found the back of the net 10 times so far this term. Aguero started against Feyenoord in midweek, but that has not prevented Guardiola from playing him again today.
John Stones is set for more than a month on the sidelines, so this is likely to be City's first-choice centre-back partnership over the busy Christmas period, with Walker and Delph flanking them in the full-back slots.
Add to that the pace and increasingly reliable finishing of Sterling and Sane and it is no surprise that City have been so devastating going forward so far this season.
David Wagner has made three changes to his side for this match following their hugely disappointing 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth last time out, with Smith, Schindler and Hogg coming back into the starting XI.
Both return in central defence and midfield respectively today, though, with Cranie and Kachunga the men to make way. There is also a switch at right-back as Smith replaces Hadergjonaj - much to the delight of every commentator out there.
The former Liverpool target holds an unwanted lead in the Premier League this season, though, having had 30 shots without scoring in the top flight this term - more than any other player.
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Depoitre and Mooy are the top scorers from those on the field today, each with two goals apiece, while Mounie has also scored twice and Van La Parra has one goal to his name.
Huddersfield have conceded 17 times from their 12 appearances which, while not being the worst total in the league, is not a good mix with their tally of only eight goals scored. Only Swansea have scored fewer than them this season, and only four teams have a worse goal difference.
Of course, there is still a long way to go of the campaign and the five-point gap which separates them from the Premier League could be wiped out very quickly should they go on a poor run of form, but they only need 25 more points to reach the magic 40-point mark so they are well on their way to survival.
That is one of two wins from their last four outings and, while their wider form of only two wins in their last 11 games across all competitions is relatively poor, they are picking up points on a regular enough basis in the Premier League to keep themselves ticking along.
Wagner's side must face Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea in three of their next five outings, while five of their next six games come against teams currently above them in the top half of the table. I mentioned that a bad run could see them begin to slip closer towards the bottom three, and that could be exactly what is heading their way.
Across all competitions the Terriers have only lost one of their seven matches at the John Smith's Stadium, winning four and drawing two in that time, including back-to-back victories coming into this match - one of which came against Manchester United, of course.
Huddersfield's only home defeat this season was a heavy one - going down 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur - but they have otherwise been very impressive, with only the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs picking up more points in front of their own fans.
Defensively things have also been getting worse - in their opening six Premier League games Huddersfield's opponents scored just three goals, converting 4.5% of their shots, but since then they have conceded 14 and let in 21.9% of chances.
City's goal tally is a full 12 higher than the next highest scorers after only 12 games of the season, while they have also been keeping things tight at the other end having conceded only seven times - a tally only second-placed Manchester United can beat.
Pep Guardiola's side have won their last 17 matches in a row across all competitions stretching back to August 21, when Everton became the first and so far only team to take points off City in any competition this season. Even stretching back to last season, City have now won 22 of their last 23 outings in all competitions.
Indeed, stretching back to last season again City have now won 15 of their last 16 Premier League matches, and they look well set to pass the record 30-win mark set by champions Chelsea just last season.
City already have 11 wins to their name from their opening 12 league games this season, dropping only two points on their way to a convincing lead over the chasing pack. They saw that lead cut to five points by Manchester United yesterday courtesy of a narrow win over Brighton, but Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool all dropped points - and Arsenal are currently on course to do the same - so victory here would cap off a really good weekend for Guardiola's side.
Guardiola's side are already seven points better off than they were at the same stage of last season, and the type of football they are playing at the moment is worthy of being regarded amongst the best we have ever seen in the Premier League. Guardiola has played down the possibility of becoming the Invincibles mark II, but not many teams have looked as capable of achieving that feat.
Stretching back to last season they are actually on a 10-game winning run on the road, scoring 31 goals in that time at an average of more than three per game.
Not only that, but City have also scored more (16) and conceded fewer (3) than any other team on the road so far this term, so any Huddersfield fans expected a slightly easier time of things today may find themselves proved emphatically wrong.
Huddersfield have been impressive at home so far this season and their victory over Manchester United cannot be ignored, but City are a different animal at the moment and it is impossible to back against them right now. The hosts will make things difficult, but it should be a relatively comfortable win for City.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Huddersfield 0-2 Man City
Huddersfield came away with a 0-0 draw at home on that occasion too, although they were comfortably second best in the replay as Sane, Aguero (2), Zabaleta and Iheanacho were all on the scoresheet to hand City a 5-1 win from behind.
Huddersfield beat City at Maine Road that season, though, remaining unbeaten in their two clashes against Joe Royle's side that year.
This fixture was also the last to see one team score 10 goals in the English league, with three City players scoring hat-tricks in a 10-1 triumph in November 1987 - City's biggest ever league win and Huddersfield's biggest ever league defeat.
HUDDERSFIELD STARTING XI: Lossl; Smith, Malone, Schindler, Zanka; Hogg, Mooy, Van La Parra, Williams, Ince; Depoitre
MAN CITY STARTING XI: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Delph; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva; Sterling, Sane, Aguero
City are stunned, but the John Smith's Stadium goes wild!
City absolutely dominated possession in that first half, but clear chances were difficult to come by for Pep Guardiola's side and they were stung by a set-piece goal right at the death.
Huddersfield had to wait until the 45th minute for their first corner, and that saw Kompany turn the ball just over his own crossbar before the following corner did result in the own goal. Huddersfield now have a lead to defend in the second half!
Fernandinho and Otamendi have also seen effort fly over the crossbar, while the likes of Aguero and De Bruyne have seen potential chances of their own pass by due to poor touches.
The game plan has worked perfectly for Huddersfield so far, but it is still a big ask to keep City out for another 45 minutes.
Sterling is the man to win it, skipping away from Malone before being brought to ground by the full-back, and Aguero makes no mistake from the resulting spot kick as he calmly rolls it into the bottom corner.
De Bruyne's through-ball takes a deflection which puts it into the path of Aguero, but Lossl is alert to it and rushes out to deny the Argentine with a fine save. However, the ball rebounds off Sterling and loops into the net. That is so unlucky for Huddersfield, but City do not care one bit.
City needed to come from behind, and they needed luck with Sterling's winner too, but they pick up all three points to restore their eight-point lead over Manchester United courtesy of an 11th straight league win, and an 18th in all competitions.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for the final Premier League match of this gameweek as Manchester City leave it late to continue their remarkable winning streak at the expense of a spirited Huddersfield side. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
