Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United will both play their final friendlies of the pre-season campaign on Friday, when they square off at the John Smith's Stadium.
The Yorkshire sides both kick off their league terms next weekend after suffering relegations to League One and the Championship respectively last time around.
Match preview
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Huddersfield Town will conclude their pre-season preparations on Friday at the John Smith's Stadium before launching a bid for an immediate return to the Championship in the coming term, having dropped back into England's third tier for the first time since 2012 last time around.
Across spells under the management of Neil Warnock, Darren Moore, Jon Worthington and Andre Breitenreiter, the Terriers were unable to steer clear of the Championship's bottom three, succumbing to a 23rd-placed finish having earned just 45 points from their 46 outings.
The Yorkshire outfit then turned to Michael Duff over the summer, and he has overseen a pleasing build-up to the 2024-25 campaign thus far, with Friday's hosts having won five of their opening six friendlies, firstly beating Guiseley, Ossett United and Harrogate Town before suffering a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Aris Limassol.
Duff's men would go on to finish a pre-season tour in Austria in style, though, picking up 2-1 victories over German outfit Hertha Berlin and Serie A side Lecce in their last two outings, with Matty Pearson and Ben Wiles getting on the scoresheet against the former and second-half goals from Josh Koroma and Rhys Healey settling the latter.
Huddersfield Town will now bid to cap off their pre-season run on a positive note with another victory on Friday before kicking off their promotion bid with a tough trip to Peterborough United next Saturday.
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Their visitors will also aim to close their preparations with a victory at the John Smith's Stadium on Friday, having enjoyed a perfect record in pre-season thus far.
Sheffield United turned their focus to the 2024-25 Championship term on the back of a dismal campaign in the Premier League last time around, succumbing to an immediate relegation back to England's second tier having finished 20th on just 16 points, 16 adrift of safety.
Chris Wilder's men have since turned out four times on their travels in friendlies and come out on top on each occasion, firstly visiting York City and Chesterfield and prevailing in 2-1 and 3-0 triumphs respectively.
The Blades then travelled to Harrogate Town and dished out a 4-1 beating with Andre Brooks, Callum O'Hare, Owen Hampson and Louie Marsh on the scoresheet, before most recently taking on third-tier Rotherham United on Saturday and picking up a narrow 2-1 victory, as Marsh netted a late winner after Vinicius Souza's opening goal was cancelled out by a Joseph Hungbo leveller.
With their Championship curtain-raiser away at Preston North End looming next Friday and expectations growing after a busy summer at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United will set out to make it five wins from five to build further confidence.
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Team News
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In their final pre-season test before next week's league curtain-raiser, Huddersfield Town should field a full-strength starting XI on Friday, with summer arrivals Lasse Sorensen, Mickel Miller, Herbie Kane and Antony Evans all hoping to establish regular spots, while Jack Rudoni, Sorba Thomas and Yuta Nakayama have departed in the off-season.
Rhys Healey should again lead the attack, while Josh Koroma laid a strong claim to come in from the outset after entering the fray off the bench to score against Lecce last time out.
Kane and David Kasumu will also battle to feature in the XI, after Duff deployed Evans and Ben Wiles alongside captain Jonathan Hogg in the engine room in their previous outing.
Chris Wilder should also field his strongest possible Sheffield United starting lineup on Friday, with summer arrival Jamie Shackleton set to be ruled out by an injury picked up in their victory over Rotherham United, while Rhys Norrington-Davies and Tom Davies remain sidelined by injuries.
Kieffer Moore and Callum O'Hare, who arrived from Bournemouth and Coventry City respectively in July, will both play key roles in attack, likely through the centre of a 4-2-3-1 shape, while Gustavo Hamer, Vinicius Souza and Oliver Arblaster should fight to feature at the base of the midfield.
Harrison Burrows will hope to earn a first start for the club following his recent switch from Peterborough United, with fellow summer signing Sam McCallum having featured thus far in pre-season, while Jack Robinson and Anel Ahmedhodzic should partner up in front of Welsh goalkeeper Adam Davies.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Lees, Ruffels; Sorensen, Wiles, Hogg, Evans, Miller; Healey, Koroma
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Davies; Seriki, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, McCallum; Hamer, Arblaster; Brooks, O'Hare, Osula; Moore
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-2 Sheffield United
Both teams have reasons to be optimistic ahead of the new campaign with their sights set on promotion, particularly after pleasing pre-season runs, and we anticipate a hard-fought encounter on Friday as a result.
Despite certainly facing a tough test, Sheffield United should show their superior quality and come out on top over the fellow Yorkshire side at the John Smith's Stadium.
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Sam Varley
