Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Blackpool - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to bounce back following a difficult Saturday afternoon, Huddersfield Town will welcome Blackpool to the John Smith's Stadium for a League One battle on Tuesday night.

The Terriers suffered an embarrassing home defeat to Northampton Town on the weekend, whilst the Seasiders were victorious in the capital, getting the better of Charlton Athletic.

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Match preview

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Following the jubilation of a four-goal success at promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers on September 14, Huddersfield Town have fallen back down to Earth after their first home defeat of the League One campaign, with the Terriers losing at the John Smith's Stadium to Northampton Town.

Things started poorly for Michael Duff's troops in the opening 20 minutes as centre-back Michal Helik scored an own goal, before strikes either side of the half-time whistle from Cobblers pair Cameron McGeehan and Tariqe Fosu put the contest beyond Tuesday's hosts.

Rather worryingly, Huddersfield have lost four of their last five matches across League One, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy, including defeats to League Two outfits Walsall and Doncaster Rovers, meaning that spirits in Yorkshire need to be raised with a positive result against Blackpool.

Trailing only Mansfield Town's Lee Gregory in the early stages of the race for the third-tier Golden Boot, Josh Koroma has netted four goals in six League One appearances for the Terriers so far in 2024-25, with the attacker managing just six strikes across the entirety of last season.

Huddersfield will be desperately seeking to avoid a repeat of their most recent clash with Blackpool at the John Smith's Stadium in September 2022, when a solitary strike from Canada international Theodor Corbeanu was enough to seal maximum points for the Seasiders in Yorkshire.

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Blackpool's new era under the experienced reign of Steve Bruce has started off swimmingly, with the Seasiders collecting six points from two League One matches against Exeter City and most recently Charlton at the Valley on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors were handed the lead after an own goal from Addicks summer arrival Gassan Ahadme, before midfielder Albie Morgan doubled the Tangarines' advantage ahead of the first-time whistle, a strike that proved to be the winner of the capital contest against Nathan Jones's troops.

After half of a baker's dozen of third-tier matches, Blackpool are occupying 13th place in the League One table, three points behind Lincoln City, who sit in the lowest of the playoff positions at this blossoming stage of the campaign.

Managing just two strikes during the previous five campaigns at Bloomfield Road, centre-back James Husband has enjoyed a prolific start to the 2024-25 schedule, with the 30-year-old making the net ripple on three occasions so far this term.

Huddersfield Town League One form:

Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):

Blackpool League One form:

Blackpool form (all competitions):

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Team News

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Despite a poor performance on the weekend, Huddersfield's Helik should keep his spot in the the centre-back trio alongside Tom Lees and Nigel Lonwijk.

On the other hand, there could be a raft of attacking alterations for the Terriers, with the likes of Joe Hodge, Freddie Ladapo and Bojan Radulovic pushing for starts.

Blackpool have an array of options in reserve should Bruce opt to rotate his XI, with Jordan Rhodes and Jake Beesley settling for cameos at Charlton on Saturday.

The Seasiders could bring in a wealth of experience to their backline in the form of Matthew Pennington, who featured at right-back in the second period at the Valley.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Lees, Helik, Lonwijk; Sorensen, Hogg, Hodge, Wiles, Headley; Koroma, Radulovic

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We say: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Blackpool

After the disappointment of defeat to Northampton last time out, Huddersfield should be raring to get back to winning ways on Tuesday night.

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