Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town will both kick off their League One promotion bids on Saturday, when they square off at the Weston Homes Stadium in their third-tier curtain-raiser.
The hosts fell short in the playoffs for the second consecutive season last time around, while their visitors will fight to bounce straight back up to the Championship after suffering relegation last campaign.
Match preview
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Peterborough United head into the 2024-25 campaign on the back of a pair of near-misses in their bid to reach the Championship over the last two years with the aim of going one better this time around.
After falling short in the playoff semi-finals in the 2022-23 term, the Posh enjoyed another strong campaign under the tutelage of Darren Ferguson last time around, remaining in the automatic promotion race for the majority of the season and eventually settling for a fourth-placed finish with 84 points on the board from their 46 outings.
That set up a semi-final tie with Oxford United, and the Cambridgeshire outfit were again unable to punch their ticket to Wembley, falling to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg on their travels before being held to a 1-1 draw on home turf, having drawn level on aggregate through Josh Knight, only for Cameron Brannagan to quickly put their opponents back ahead from the penalty spot.
Turning their focus to the new campaign and a third attempt at making a return to the second tier, Ferguson's men head into the weekend on the back of a busy pre-season schedule, and after suffering narrow defeats to AFC Wimbledon and West Bromwich Albion, the Posh have managed four straight friendly victories, firstly getting the better Stamford and Colchester United before meeting Notts County in two separate fixtures at the weekend and winning in each.
Having again seen plenty of change to their squad over the summer, Peterborough United will now bid to start their latest promotion bid on the front foot with a statement victory at the weekend.
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That will be no easy task, though, as the visitors arrive also aiming to make a strong start with their sights set on climbing back up to the Championship after their drop last term.
Having last turned out in League One in 2012, and experienced two Premier League campaigns in the 12 years since, Huddersfield Town succumbed to relegation from England's second tier having earned just 45 points from their 46 games, finishing 23rd as a result with a six-point gap to safety.
That season finished under the management of Andre Breitenreiter, and the Terriers hierarchy have since turned to Michael Duff, tasking the former Barnsley and Swansea City boss with leading their charge for an immediate return this season.
They went on to enjoy a pleasing pre-season run, culminating in 2-1 victories over Hertha Berlin and Lecce in Austria and a 1-1 draw with Championship side Sheffield United in their final outing having gone ahead in that game through Ben Wiles before being pegged back by an Anel Ahmedhodzic leveller.
Now returning to League One having triumphed through the playoffs in their last third-tier campaign, Huddersfield Town will look to immediately establish themselves among the frontrunners this term starting with what would be an eye-catching result at the Weston Homes Stadium.
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Team News
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Peterborough United head into the 2024-25 campaign with somewhat of a new-look squad, with last season's preferred centre-back pairing of Ronnie Edwards and Josh Knight having departed to join Southampton and Hannover respectively, while star left-back Harrison Burrows has joined Sheffield United.
Jack Sparkes, Rio Adebisi, Oscar Wallin, George Nevett and Sam Curtis have since arrived to bolster the Posh's defensive ranks, and Sparkes should line up on the left-hand side of a back four with Adebisi set to miss out through injury, while Wallin and Nevett will compete alongside Romoney Crichlow and Emmanuel Fernandez to start in the centre.
With key winger Ephron Mason-Clark having also departed over the summer, Darren Ferguson should deploy the dangerous trio of Kwame Poku, Joel Randall and David Ajiboye behind a lone striker with Ricky-Jade Jones likely to get the nod over Malik Mothersille.
Huddersfield Town have also seen plenty of changes to their squad over the summer, with Jack Rudoni, Jordan Rhodes, Yuta Nakayama, Brahima Diarra, Sorba Thomas and loanee Delano Burgzorg having all departed following their relegation, while Duff has since added reinforcements in midfield and at the back.
Antony Evans and Herbie Kane will both add quality to the midfield ranks and will compete with David Kasumu, Ben Wiles and Jonathan Hogg to start in the centre, while new signing Lasse Sorensen should feature from the start in a right wing-back role with Brodie Spencer fighting to line up in a back three.
He faces competition from Matty Pearson, Michal Helik, Tom Lees and Radinio Balker, while Rhys Healey and Josh Koroma should get the nod to start up front over the likes of Danny Ward and Bojan Radulovic.
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Steer; Curtis, Fernandez, Wallin, Sparkes; Collins, Kyprianou; Ajiboye, Randall, Poku; Jones
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Lees; Sorensen, Wiles, Hogg, Kane, Headley; Healey, Koroma
We say: Peterborough United 1-1 Huddersfield Town
With two promotion-hopefuls kicking off their campaigns in a tough test, we anticipate a hard-fought encounter on Saturday and see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome at the Weston Homes Stadium.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
