Preview: Huddersfield Town vs AFC Wimbledon - prediction, team news, lineups

Huddersfield Town and AFC Wimbledon will kick off their League One seasons on Saturday, when they square off at the Accu Stadium in the first round of fixtures.

Both teams went to penalty shootouts in EFL Cup ties last week and now kick off their third and second straight League One terms respectively.

Match preview

Huddersfield Town will raise the curtain on their third consecutive League One season on Saturday and their first under the permanent management of Martin Drury.

After their Championship relegation, the Terriers' first two campaigns in the third tier have been underwhelming, failing to reach the playoffs on either occasion and playing under five different managers.

Drury was the last of those, on a temporary basis alongside Jon Stead, and he oversaw an eventual ninth-placed finish, with the Terriers finishing on 67 points, eight short of the top six having won 18 games and lost 15 over the term.

The club hierarchy then opted to hand him the permanent reins, and Drury began with a pre-season that included wins over Oldham Athletic and Middlesbrough, before they visited Preston North End last weekend in the EFL Cup first round, eventually dropping out in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw against 10 men in normal time, leading through Radinio Balker and being pegged back in injury time.

Now with their full focus on improving in League One and sustaining an improved challenge for promotion or a top-six place, Huddersfield Town will look to begin with three points on home turf at the weekend.

They meet a visiting side keen to kick on in League One after a tough first campaign last time around.

After winning promotion from League Two under Johnnie Jackson, AFC Wimbledon successfully avoided the drop last time around, albeit finishing 20th on 53 points - four points and two places above the relegation zone.

That close call was down to a dismal run to end the campaign, as the Dons lost nine and won one of their final 11 games, and they will now aim for a more comfortable mid-table spot in the upcoming season, having undergone a pre-season run which included wins over Sutton United and Charlton Athletic and losses to Wealdstone and QPR.

Their first competitive game then came at home to Newport County in the EFL Cup last weekend, and Jackson's men scraped through, falling behind in the 71st minute and equalising deep into injury time through Callum Maycock before prevailing in the penalty shootout.

They now head to the Accu Stadium with the hopes of taking a scalp on the opening day and put three points on the board to begin the term.

Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):

L L W W D L

AFC Wimbledon form (all competitions):

W D W L L W

Team News

Huddersfield Town will field a similar starting XI from the one that drew at Preston last weekend before the penalty shootout loss, with striker Bojan Radulovic still sidelined with an injury that has ruled him out since mid-April.

In that game, Marcus Harness joined summer signings Ashley Fletcher and Derensili Sanches Fernandes in a new-look front three, although Joe Taylor does have a claim to start having scored 11 League One goals in the second half of last season while out on loan with Wigan Athletic.

Midfielder Archie Collins joined the club on Thursday, but he may not yet be up to speed to feature from the outset, likely leaving Ryan Ledson and David Kasumu to continue in the middle of their 3-4-3 shape while Radinio Balker, Jack Whatmough and Sean Roughan should line up in an unchanged back three.

AFC Wimbledon are unable to call on defender Joe Lewis and attacker Mathew Stevens, both of whom have missed pre-season through injuries.

Their most notable summer departures were defender Patrick Bauer and attacker Omar Bugiel, and Jackson has been able to add Dan Sweeney, Steven Sessegnon and Jayden Stockley while making the loan stays of James Tilley and Zack Nelson permanent.

Stockley may come in to spearhead the attack, while Callum Maycock, who scored late off the bench against Newport, should also feature from the outset.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:

Young; Balker, Whatmough, Roughan; Sorensen, Ledson, Kasumu, Gooch; Harness, Fletcher, Taylor

AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:

Bishop; Ogundere, Sweeney, Johnson; Tilley, Nelson, Smith, Maycock, Seddon; Browne, Stockley

We say: Huddersfield Town 3-1 AFC Wimbledon

Huddersfield Town boast far more quality than their last two League One finishes suggest, and we back them to enjoy a positive start to Drury's tenure as permanent manager, starting by making their superior quality count in an opening-day home win.

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