Huddersfield Town square off against Stoke City on Wednesday evening with each side seemingly going in opposite directions in the Championship.
At a time when the home team have won twice in succession to move up to 17th position in the standings, the visitors have lost three times in a row.
Match preview
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On Monday, Huddersfield confirmed reports that Neil Warnock would be leaving the club after the next game, despite already making a U-turn on his future having kept the Terriers in the second tier.
The veteran will departing the John Smith's Stadium on a high with a four-game winless streak being ended by back-to-back victories.
A 2-1 triumph at West Bromwich Albion before the international break was followed by a 2-0 success against Rotherham United over the weekend.
Having scored just twice in their opening 360 minutes of league action this campaign, the Yorkshire outfit appear to have rediscovered the touch that got them out of trouble at the back end of 2022-23.
With a certain level of attention being placed on Warnock's final match at the club, there may be a unique atmosphere, yet his players need to focus on trying to move further clear of the drop zone.
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In sharp contrast, Stoke started the season looking like a team who looked perfectly set to retain a promotion push, helped by the heavy investment in the summer.
Instead, four defeats in five games have left the Potters below their next opponents, with six points to their name from as many matches and in 19th position.
Furthermore, Alex Neil's team have failed to score in defeats to each of Millwall, Preston North End and Norwich City, despite that being the area where they spent much of the focus during the off-season.
Even at this early stage, pressure is growing on Neil whose appointment has simply not worked out, and the Scot desperately requires another win from Wednesday's fixture or the ones that follow versus Hull City and Bristol City.
Team News
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Jonathan Hogg is expected to miss out for Huddersfield having sustained an injury early in the second half against Rotherham.
On that occasion, Rarmani Edmonds-Green - a defender - was introduced in his place, but Brahima Diarra may be considered if Warnock opts for a more attack-minded look in the engine room.
The rest of the side could stay the same, Kian Harratt and Delano Burgzorg retaining their places in the attack.
While Ki-Jana Hoever may be in line to return at right-back, Stoke are again expected to be without Enda Stevens, Andre Vidigal and Ryan Mmaee.
Daniel Johnson, Sead Haksabanovic and Dwight Gayle are all pushing for opportunities in midfield and attack respectively.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Ruffels; Thomas, Rudoni, Wiles, Diarra, Koroma; Harratt, Burgzorg
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Travers; Hoever, Rose, Wilmot, Gooch; Pearson, Laurent, Johnson; Campbell, Wesley, Haksabanovic
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Stoke City
The fact that Huddersfield are currently rallying after a poor start bodes well going forward, yet this is a Stoke side still full of quality in the final third. In a tight match, we feel that the visitors may do enough to earn a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
