Sheffield Wednesday will welcome Luton Town to Hillsborough on Saturday for an important clash at both ends of the Championship table.
The hosts sit just three points outside of the playoff places, while their visitors find themselves three points adrift of safety in the midst of a seven-match winless run.
Match preview
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Sheffield Wednesday return to Hillsborough on Saturday aiming to narrow their gap to the Championship's top six, following an important victory last time out.
They have enjoyed a strong campaign in their first full season under the management of Danny Rohl thus far, sitting in the playoff fight having earned 41 points from their first 29 outings including 11 victories, just four fewer than they managed in the entirety of the 2023-24 term.
Although the Owls have not excelled at home, picking up 21 points from their first 15 league games at Hillsborough, they are now unbeaten in four games in South Yorkshire, firstly picking up victories over Stoke City and Derby County before playing out 2-2 draws with Millwall and Bristol City.
Following that latest draw, Rohl's men most recently visited fellow playoff-chasers Queens Park Rangers last weekend and leapfrogged their hosts with an impressive 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Michael Smith and Callum Paterson in the final 20 minutes.
Thanks to that victory at Loftus Road, Sheffield Wednesday now sit 10th, only trailing Bristol City and Watford on goal difference and sixth-placed Middlesbrough by three points, and they will aim to make it back-to-back league wins on Saturday to further strengthen their playoff bid.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, head to South Yorkshire aiming to end a rut and move closer to safety at the bottom end of the division.
Following their Premier League relegation last time around, Luton Town have endured a dismal campaign thus far, having picked up just 26 points from their first 29 games, and they head into the weekend's trip in the midst of a seven-match winless run.
The first four of those, being defeats to Bristol City, Swansea City, Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers around the turn of the year, spelled the end of Rob Edwards's tenure as manager, but new boss Matt Bloomfield has been unable to inspire an improvement at Kenilworth Road thus far.
The Hatters did end the losing run with a goalless stalemate against Preston North End, but they have since suffered consecutive defeats again, firstly falling to a 3-2 loss away at Oxford United before hosting Millwall last weekend and coming away empty-handed as Mihailo Ivanovic netted the only goal on the hour mark.
Now sitting 23rd in the Championship, three points adrift of safety and with major cause for concern about their away record, having only picked up four points and suffered 12 defeats in their 14 games on the road, Luton Town will be desperate to stop the rot and begin climbing out of the bottom three on Saturday.
Team News
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Danny Rohl has little reason to make many alterations to his Sheffield Wednesday starting XI from last week's away win over Queens Park Rangers, although Michael Smith did lay a claim to come in from the start with decisive goals off the bench.
Indeed, Smith could displace Jamal Lowe and lead the line with support from Djeidi Gassama, Callum Paterson and Josh Windass, who leads the squad with 10 Championship goals so far this season.
The Owls were able to keep midfielder Shea Charles on loan from Southampton for the remainder of the season earlier in January, and he will continue to play a key role in the engine room alongside Barry Bannan.
Luton Town are set to remain without defenders Teden Mengi and Reece Burke and midfielders Tahith Chong and Shandon Baptiste due to ongoing injury issues heading into the weekend.
New arrivals Kal Naismith and Thelo Aasgaard are in line to earn debuts, with Bloomfield hoping to inspire a change in form, while fellow January signing Isaiah Jones will hope to return to the starting XI on the right-hand side.
Carlton Morris should again be trusted to lead the line and will aim to add to his tally of seven goals for the season, after hitting 11 in the Championship last time around, while Jacob Brown and Alfie Doughty will offer further attacking threat from the wings.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Valery, Ihiekwe, Bernard, M Lowe; Bannan, Charles; Paterson, Windass, Gassama; Smith
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Jones, McGuinness, Andersen, Bell; Nakamba, Krauss; Brown, Aasgaard, Doughty; Morris
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Luton Town
Luton Town do possess more quality than their current league standing suggests, but the Hatters are low on confidence and Bloomfield is yet to get them climbing towards safety.
Given their poor record away from home and the Owls' growing momentum, with their sights set on the top six, we see a home victory as the most likely outcome at the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
