Huddersfield Town boss Andre Breitenreiter needs no introduction to the talents of Leeds United duo Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter ahead of Saturday’s Yorkshire derby clash.
There are a few familiar faces in the Leeds United camp, Breitenreiter’s first home game in charge of Huddersfield pitting The Terriers against their rivals from across the county.
Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter are not only two of the most in-form attackers in the Championship, both have worked previously alongside the coach headhunted by Huddersfield to spearhead their survival charge.
Gnonto was part of the FC Zurich side which claimed the Swiss Super League title under the 50-year-old German in 2021. And Rutter, Leeds’ slaloming, snake-hipped schemer, worked with Breitenreiter in the Bundesliga at Hoffenheim.
Huddersfield face Leeds United in Yorkshire derby
“Some players were my former players in Hoffenheim and Zurich, so I will know them during the 90 minutes,” says Breitenreiter, who was hired at Huddersfield following the sacking of Darren Moore in January (Examiner Live).
“I know about their quality, but we also have quality to defend this. We have a plan, we practice this, we have video clips, and then we hope that it will work on Saturday.
“With Willy Gnonto we won the championship in Zurich. And at the end of the season, he became a national team player for Italy. We like each other, before the game, after the game, but not during the game!
“He’s a really good player, he’s a good character, and he has quality on the pitch. We are still in contact, not this week but after this week for sure.”
Not only is Gnonto a ‘really good player’, he is also a forward in formidable form. The 20-year-old has six goals or assists in his last seven appearances, bouncing back from the unseemly transfer saga which disrupted his start to the season.
Rutter, meanwhile, is emerging as an obvious candidate for the Championship’s Player of the Year award.
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“Georginio Rutter, he was my player in Hoffenheim and then he signed for a lot of money for Leeds,” Breitenreiter adds, under no illusions about the size of the task facing a Huddersfield backline who have conceded 55 league goals this term.
“We missed (Rutter) at Hoffenheim. He’s also a great character. A very good individual.
“We hope that we can mark both of the players (Rutter and Gnonto) very tight, that they cannot show us their quality. I’m sure that we have players against them with high quality, and it’s exciting to see what will happen on Saturday.”
Leeds, should they back up last week’s dramatic comeback against Leicester City, will win a tenth successive league game in the Yorkshire derby.
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