Both aiming to build on winning starts to the League One season, Huddersfield Town and Stevenage will square off in the second round of fixtures at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts impressed on their return to England's third tier with an away win over Peterborough, while their visitors got the better of Shrewsbury Town in their curtain-raiser.
Match preview
© Reuters
Huddersfield Town return to the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday with the aim of making it back-to-back wins to kick off their League One promotion bid.
After spending 12 consecutive seasons in England's top two tiers, the Terriers succumbed to relegation from the Championship last time around, finishing 23rd on just 45 points under the management of Andre Breitenreiter, and they would turn to Michael Duff over the summer, tasking the former Barnsley and Swansea City boss with leading their charge for an immediate rebound.
Following a pleasing pre-season run under new management, the West Yorkshire outfit began their league campaign with a tough trip to fellow promotion-hopefuls Peterborough United last Saturday, and they got up and running in impressive fashion, picking up all three points from a 2-0 victory thanks to first-half goals from Antony Evans and Ben Wiles.
The Terriers then turned their focus to the EFL Cup on Tuesday in a first-round tie at home to Morecambe and progressed with another convincing victory, dishing out a 3-0 beating at the John Smith's Stadium as Jaheim Headley, Callum Marshall and Danny Ward all got on the scoresheet before the interval.
Now heading into their second third-tier outing of the season, having notched up five goals without conceding in their first two competitive games, spirits are bound to be high in the Huddersfield Town camp, and they will look to extend their fast start with another victory on Saturday with the aim of establishing themselves as frontrunners in the coming weeks.
Their visitors also travel in search of consecutive third-tier wins, though, having made their own pleasing start last week after an impressive campaign last time around.
The 2023-24 season was Stevenage's first back in League One after ending a nine-year stay in England's fourth tier with a promotion, and they adjusted in eye-catching fashion under Steve Evans, remaining in the playoff race throughout almost the entirety of the campaign and eventually finishing ninth on 71 points from their 46 outings.
They would be hit by the departure of Evans to Rotherham United, though, and after spending the final two games under the stewardship of Alex Revell, picking up a draw and a win in the process, they headed into the new campaign under his permanent management, beginning with a home contest against Shrewsbury Town on the opening day.
The Boro continued their impressive start to life with Revell at the helm in that opener, immediately putting their first three points on the board in a 1-0 victory thanks to Elliott List's goal on the hour mark, before visiting second-tier Norwich City in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and succumbing to a narrow 4-3 defeat after a valiant effort, having twice drawn level through Charlie Goode and Louis Appere before a Brad Hills own goal halved their deficit in the dying embers.
With plenty of positives to take from that display at Carrow Road and their full focus on their League One pursuits on the back of a winning start, Stevenage will now travel to the John Smith's Stadium with the aim of taking a major scalp and moving onto six points on Saturday.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
Michael Duff rotated his Huddersfield Town squad for their EFL Cup tie with Morecambe, and despite the convincing midweek victory, he may opt to field the same starting XI from last week's 2-0 win over Peterborough United, with Ben Wiles and Antony Evans bound to return to the midfield after scoring the Terriers' goals in that game.
They could again operate ahead of captain Jonathan Hogg, despite competition from David Kasumu and Herbie Kane, while Tom Lees, Michal Helik and Brodie Spencer could reform their back three after the impressive clean sheet at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Danny Ward and West Ham United loanee Callum Marshall both have claims to start in attack after finding the net on Tuesday, although Josh Koroma and Rhys Healey will compete to come back in from the outset up top, while Jaheim Headley will challenge Mickel Miller for the left wing-back spot with Lasse Sorensen bound to continue on the other flank.
Stevenage should again be contending with several injury issues on Saturday, as first-choice goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond is set to remain sidelined alongside Jamie Reid, Jake Forster-Caskey and Aaron Pressley.
In the expected absence of the former, Murphy Cooper will continue to deputise between the sticks, while Dan Sweeney and Charlie Goode, who scored on his debut against Norwich City in midweek, will compete to join mainstay Carl Piergianni in the middle of the defence.
Louis Thompson, Daniel Phillips and Harvey White will all fight to return to the midfield from the start after featuring in their opening-day win over Shrewsbury Town, while Louis Appere, who also scored his first Stevenage goal in midweek, may keep his place up top with support from Dan Kemp and Elliott List.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Lees, Helik, Spencer; Sorensen, Wiles, Hogg, Evans, Miller; Ward, Healey
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Wildin, Sweeney, Piergianni, Freestone; L Thompson, Phillips, White; Kemp, Appere, List
We say: Huddersfield Town 2-1 Stevenage
While Stevenage have the quality and resilience to make things tough for Huddersfield Town on Saturday, we still see the hosts having too much and putting another victory on the board in a pleasing start to their season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
