Two sides separated by just three points in the bottom half of the Championship table will do battle on Saturday as Huddersfield Town welcome Watford to the John Smith's Stadium.

Following back-to-back defeats, the hosts sit 21st with a five-point lead over the relegation zone, while their visitors have quickly climbed to 16th spot thanks to an upturn in form since the recent international break.

Match preview

Huddersfield Town will return to the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday with the aim of bouncing back from a pair of heavy defeats and a tough run under new manager Darren Moore, having only managed six points from their seven league games since his September appointment.

He took over from Neil Warnock in the midst of an unbeaten run but had to wait until four matches and the international break had passed before picking up a first win as Terriers boss, when they beat fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers 2-1 on home turf thanks to early goals from Kian Harratt and Jack Rudoni.

Having built up a six-point lead over the drop zone with that result, the Yorkshire outfit set out to kick on and build an improved run, but that would not go to plan as they then suffered a 4-0 thrashing at home to Cardiff City, before most recently losing 4-1 away at West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United last weekend.

Daniel James and Crysencio Summerville each helped themselves to first-half braces to put that game out of sight before the interval, and Michal Helik's 70th-minute goal was nothing more than a consolation for the Terriers in another tough outing.

Having now conceded eight goals across their last two matches, with no other side in the Championship allowing more than the 27 they have now shipped after 14 outings, Huddersfield will be desperate to correct their form on Saturday and score an important second victory under Moore to build on their now five-point lead over the bottom three.

They meet a Watford side who will aim to continue their improvement and climb up the division, having seemingly kicked on since the international break.

The Hornets had to endure a slow start to the season under the new management of Valerien Ismael, as they headed into the October break with just 10 points from their opening 11 games, but they have since added seven more to their tally in the last three outings.

They returned to action at home to basement side Sheffield Wednesday and eventually sealed a 1-0 victory thanks to Yaser Asprilla's 82nd-minute goal, before prevailing by the same scoreline in a tough trip to Swansea City as Ken Sema netted their winner again eight minutes from time.

The run of late goals continued for Ismael's men at home to Millwall last time out, as they looked set to fall to a 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road, despite Asprilla's early opener, only for Mileta Rajovic to force a draw with a 92nd-minute equaliser, earning his side a valuable point as a result.

While they may hope for some convincing results in more comfortable fashion, Watford can certainly take encouragement from their resilience in recent weeks, and having quickly risen to 16th spot with just a two-point gap up to 10th place, they will aim to build on their solid recent foundations with another victory at the weekend.

Team News

Huddersfield Town's list of selection concerns has grown ahead of the weekend, as Oliver Turton, David Kasumu, Lock Ayina, Josh Ruffels and Danny Ward remain sidelined, while key midfielders Jack Rudoni and Jonathan Hogg will also miss out at the weekend, with the former having also picked up an injury before their Leeds trip and the latter serving a suspension after accumulating five league yellow cards this term.

In their absence, plenty of responsibility will fall on Ben Wiles in the engine room in their 3-5-2 shape, while Brahima Diarra should again join him alongside Ben Jackson in a makeshift midfield role.

Kian Harratt should again get the nod to lead the line alongside either Delano Burgozrg or Josh Koroma, with Sorba Thomas offering further attacking support from a wing-back role, while Matty Pearson should return to the back three from the start alongside Michal Helik and Tom Lees after their heavy defeat last time out.

Watford will likely travel to West Yorkshire with a clean bill of health at the weekend, and Valerien Ismael should only make minimal changes to his starting XI from their recent meeting with Millwall, although Mileta Rajovic will likely to come in and lead the line from the outset after netting their equaliser off the bench last weekend, taking his tally to four Championship goals for the season.

He will likely join Yaser Asprilla and Ken Sema in a front three, with Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Rhys Healey, Tom Ince and Matheus Martins also fighting to start, while Imran Louza could also return from the outset in midfield alongside Jake Livermore and either Edo Kayembe or Ismael Kone.

Francisco Sierralta has recently got the nod over Ryan Porteous at the heart of the back four alongside Wesley Hoedt, and they could again partner up in the middle of the defence at the John Smith's Stadium with Jeremy Ngakia and Jamal Lewis set to continue in full-back roles.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Lees; Thomas, Diarra, Wiles, Jackson, Nakayama; Harratt, Burgzorg

Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Ngakia, Sierralta, Hoedt, Lewis; Kone, Livermore, Louza; Asprilla, Rajovic, Sema

We say: Huddersfield Town 1-3 Watford

Huddersfield's recent results are certainly concerning for Darren Moore, and while Watford have only scraped over the line in recent games, they are building momentum and have the quality to outclass the Terriers and win in more comfortable fashion at the John Smith's Stadium.


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