Huddersfield Town will be aiming to break into the Championship top six when they host struggling Hull City on Saturday.
The Terriers are one point off the playoff places in seventh position, while the Tigers are 21st and one point above the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
After fighting for survival at the bottom end of the Championship last season, Huddersfield started the new campaign in strong form and sat fourth in the table a month ago.
However they have suffered a dip in form in recent weeks, winning only one of their last four matches.
Carlos Corberan's men headed into the international break with a 0-0 draw away at Luton Town, registering just two shots on target.
Huddersfield have three victories from their opening five league matches at the John Smith's Stadium this season and Corberan will be hoping that home comforts help his side turn their form around.
The Terriers have won their last two games against Hull, with Steve Mounie scoring a 96th-minute winner last time the two teams met.
© Reuters
Hull will hope that their own form has turned a corner after they picked up their first victory since the opening day of the season by beating Middlesbrough 2-0 before the international break.
An own goal from Joe Lumley and Mallik Wilks's strike, both of which came in the final 10 minutes, ended the Tigers' nine-game winless run.
The club's return to the second tier following promotion from League One last season has proved more difficult than expected, but Grant McCann believes his team can now start to put together a good run of results with an encounter against fellow strugglers Peterborough United to come on Wednesday.
Only Barnsley and Derby County have scored fewer goals than Hull in the Championship this season, with the Tigers failing to net in seven of their 11 matches.
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Huddersfield captain Jonathan Hogg has missed the last two matches with an abdominal injury, but he has returned to full training and is available for selection.
Defender Levi Colwill is also back in training following an ankle injury and could return, but Alex Vallejo, Jordan Rhodes and Ryan Schofield remain out.
Danny Ward has two goals in his last two matches against Hull – both as a substitute for Cardiff City in 2019-20.
Hull will be able to welcome back right-back Lewie Coyle, who served a one-game suspension against Middlesbrough.
Midfield duo George Honeyman and Tom Huddlestone are also in contention to come into the Tigers' starting lineup having recovered from injuries.
However, there will be no Alfie Jones, who was forced off against Boro with a hamstring injury and is expected to be out for three or four weeks.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Lees, Colwill; Thomas, O'Brien, Hogg, Toffolo; Sinani, Ward, Koroma
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Bernard, Greaves, Elder; Docherty, Smallwood; Emmanuel, Moncur, Lewis-Potter; Wilks
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Hull City
Hull will be upbeat after ending their winless streak, but Huddersfield should provide a tougher test than Middlesbrough and back-to-back victories will not be easy to achieve for the Tigers. The international break will have allowed the Terriers to reset and we think they will pick up all three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hull City win with a probability of 38.47%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 34.18% and a draw had a probability of 27.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hull City win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.19%) and 0-2 (6.97%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 1-0 (10.23%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.95%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 6% likelihood.
