Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Huddersfield Town and Charlton Athletic, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to move back into the top six of the League One table, Huddersfield Town will welcome Charlton Athletic to the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday.
On their return from the international break, the hosts trail the playoff spots by three points, while their visitors are four more points behind after a dip in form.
Match preview
Huddersfield will aim to extend a five-match League One unbeaten streak on their return to action on Saturday, having moved back within touching distance of the playoff places after a difficult run across September and early October.
Four straight defeats left the Yorkshire outfit on 12 points from nine games in England’s third tier, and they have since put three victories and two draws on the board in five further attempts, ending October with home triumphs over Barnsley, Bristol Rovers and Exeter City alongside a draw with fellow promotion-chasers Wrexham.
Then following a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Tamworth, Michael Duff’s side visited strugglers Crawley Town in their last league outing and had to settle for a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw, having twice fallen behind and drawn level through Rhys Healey and Herbie Kane.
That result leaves the Terriers eighth in League One on their return to action at the weekend, trailing fifth and sixth-placed Barnsley and Lincoln City by three points with one game in hand and fourth-placed Stockport County by four with two in hand, having most recently met Manchester United Under-21s in the EFL Trophy last week and prevailed in a 4-1 victory with Ben Wiles, Healey, David Kasumu and Tom Lees on the scoresheet.
Huddersfield Town will now bid to make it four straight home league wins at the weekend with the chance to move into the top six while keeping their games in hand if other results go their way.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, will also aim to climb back towards the top six at the weekend and end a tricky run of form in England’s third tier.
Pushing to win promotion back to the Championship under the management of Nathan Jones, Charlton Athletic enjoyed a pleasing start to the campaign, earning 12 points from their first six outings, but they have since added just seven more points to that tally in eight further attempts.
After suffering three straight defeats across late September and early October, those points came in a four-match unbeaten streak for the Addicks last month, beating leaders Birmingham City and sharing the points with Stockport County, Barnsley and Wrexham.
A trip to Exeter City then followed before the November international break, and the Addicks failed to make it five games unbeaten, instead seeing a league winless streak stretched to four matches in a 1-0 defeat as Tristan Crama netted the only goal of the game on the hour mark.
Now returning to league action in 13th spot, on the back of a 1-0 EFL Trophy win over Bromley last week, Charlton Athletic will be keen to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday and begin to narrow the seven-point gap to the playoffs.
Huddersfield Town League One form:
Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):
Charlton Athletic League One form:
Charlton Athletic form (all competitions):
Team News
© Imago
Huddersfield Town were boosted by the returns of Rhys Healey and Michal Helik before the international break, but they should remain without goalkeeper Lee Nicholls and defender Lasse Sorensen, who has been sidelined since mid-October.
In his absence, Oliver Turton will continue on the right-hand side of their 3-5-2 setup, while Helik will hope to displace either Matty Pearson, Tom Lees or Nigel Lonwijk and return to a back three from the outset.
Healey and Josh Koroma will both push for starts in attack after Callum Marshall and Bojan Radulovic led the line for their trip to Crawley Town last time out in League One, while David Kasumu, Ben Wiles and Herbie Kane should continue in the engine room.
Charlton Athletic were without Lloyd Jones, Tyreece Campbell, Will Mannion and Chuks Aneke before the break due to injuries, and while they are nearing returns they may not be deemed fit to start at the John Smith’s Stadium.
If Jones in not yet ready to feature, Alex Mitchell and Macaulay Gillesphey will partner up at the heart of the back four, while Conor Coventry will join captain Greg Docherty in midfield after spending the international break with Republic of Ireland.
Allan Campbell should again take up an advanced midfield role, lending support to the front two of Matt Godden and Miles Leaburn.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Chapman; Pearson, Helik, Lonwijk; Turton, Wiles, Kane, Kasumu, Miller; Marshall, Healey
Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:
Maynard-Brewer; Z Mitchell, A Mitchell, Gillesphey, Edwards; Docherty, Coventry, Berry; Campbell; Godden, Leaburn
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic do boast more quality than their position in the table and recent results suggest and will certainly pose a tough test for Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
With both keen to regain ground in the climb towards the playoffs, we see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome in Yorkshire.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
