Preview: Cardiff City vs Huddersfield Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Huddersfield Town will travel to South Wales on Saturday to take on Cardiff City in an important game at the top end of the League One table.

The hosts moved to the summit of the division with a victory last weekend, while their visitors trail the playoff places by two points.

Match preview

Cardiff City head into the weekend aiming to strengthen their position at the top of the League One table with a third straight third-tier victory.

Following last season's Championship relegation and the summer appointment of Brian Barry-Murphy, they have enjoyed a strong start to life in League One, winning 10 and losing four of their first 18 outings to sit on 34 points.

The Bluebirds suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time this season across late October and early November in trips to Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool, but they have since bounced back with a pair of victories, firstly beating Northampton Town 3-1 away from home.

Barry-Murphy's side then hosted Mansfield Town last weekend and make it back-to-back three-point hauls in style, winning 3-0 thanks to Will Fish's first-half opener and second-half goals from Yousef Salech and Cian Ashford.

Now on the back of a midweek 5-1 EFL Trophy loss to AFC Wimbledon with their focus fully on the promotion bid, Cardiff sit top of League One but just a single point above the next three sides, and they will hope to build a lead with another victory on Saturday.

They face a tough test, though, with the visitors hoping to break back into the playoff spots.

After a positive start to life under Lee Grant in their own bid to return to the Championship, Huddersfield Town hit a slump which left them on a disappointing tally of 19 points from 13 league outings.

The Terriers have shown signs of improvement since, though, firstly climbing back towards the top six with consecutive wins over Plymouth Argyle and Mansfield Town.

A narrow defeat away at Luton Town then followed, before the Yorkshire outfit hosted AFC Wimbledon and fell behind three times, drawing level through Leo Castledine and Ben Wiles before Alfie May earned them a point in a 3-3 draw with an 86th-minute leveller.

Still yet to make their quality and depth count in the League One top-six fight, but now only trailing the final playoff spot by two points on the back of a 2-0 EFL Trophy victory over Lincoln City in midweek, Huddersfield go in search of an important return to winning ways in Wales on Saturday.

Cardiff City League One form:

WWLLWW

Cardiff City form (all competitions):

LLWWWL

Huddersfield Town League One form:

LLWWLD

Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):

WWWLDW

Team News

Cardiff City may revert back to the same starting XI from last weekend's 3-0 league victory over Mansfield Town, with key midfielder Rubin Colwill remain sidelined alongside Ollie Tanner and Jak Alnwick.

After sitting out their EFL Trophy tie, Yousef Salech will return and lead the line, having netted seven league goals so far this season, while Callum Robinson will lend support in Colwill's absence.

Given the depth of Barry-Murphy's squad, Joel Colwill, Ronan Kpakio, Chris Willock, Omari Kellyman, Calum Chambers, Gabriel Osho and Alex Robertson will all hope to earn starts, but Ryan Wintle and David Turnbull should continue their midfield partnership.

Huddersfield Town continue to deal with a long injury list with Jack Whatmough, Mickel Miller, Marcus McGuane, Herbie Kane, Antony Evans and Will Alves all confined to the treatment room.

Ryan Ledson, Ben Wiles, David Kasumu and Marcus Harness will compete for starts in a midfield with plenty of options despite the losses of McGuane, Kane and Evans.

Further forward, Alfie May, Joe Taylor, Dion Charles and Bojan Radulovic all have claims to lead the line, while Leo Castledine will return on the wing having scored in consecutive League One games.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Trott; Ng, Fish, Lawlor, Bagan; Wintle, Turnbull; Ashford, Robinson, Davies; Salech

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:

Goodman; Sorensen, Feeney, Low, Roughan; Ledson, Wiles; Castledine, May, Roosken; Charles

We say: Cardiff City 2-1 Huddersfield Town

Saturday's game should be an interesting one between two of League One's strongest squads, and we anticipate a tight contest in South Wales.

Home advantage, and the visitors' recent struggles for consistency, mean we give a slight edge to the league leaders in what may turn out to be a crucial battle at the top of League One.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.