Preview: Peterborough United vs. Charlton Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

Peterborough United will be looking to make it three wins from their opening three games of the season when they welcome Charlton Athletic to the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday.

Fresh off the back of crashing out of the EFL Cup, the Addicks will head into the weekend looking to quickly find their feet and end their 11-game winless run against the hosts.

Match preview

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Peterborough United scraped through the first round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday when they beat Swindon Town on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.

After taking the lead courtesy of Joel Randall's seventh-minute strike, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy restored parity in the 49th minute to take the game to penalties, where the Posh picked up a 4-1 victory.

This followed a 1-0 victory over Reading in the League One opener last Saturday, when Ephron Mason-Clarke netted the only goal at the Select Car Leasing Stadium to hand the visitors an opening-day victory.

Peterborough's solid start to the season has been in keeping with their impressive performances in pre-season, where they went unbeaten, claiming three wins and one draw in their four friendly matches.

Charlton Athletic, on the other hand, were left spitting feathers on Tuesday as they crashed out of the EFL Cup courtesy of a 3-1 defeat against Newport County at the Rodney Parade.

Daniel Kanu opened the scoring in the 43rd minute to put Charlton in front but goals from Aaron Wildig, William Albert Evans and Sebastian Palmer-Houlden helped the Ironsides turn the game on its head.

Prior to that, Dean Holden's men kicked off the new League One campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient thanks to a first-half strike from midfielder George Dobson.

Following their midweek defeat, Charlton have now failed to win four of their last five competitive away matches, claiming one draw and losing three, including a 6-0 thrashing at Ipswich Town on April 15.

While the Addicks will be looking to bounce back this weekend, the journey to the Weston Homes Stadium, where they have failed to win their last five visits, losing three and claiming two draws since a 4-1 victory in August 2015.

Team News

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Peterborough United defender Emmanuel Fernandez is a major doubt for this weekend's matchup, having missed the opening two games of the season through an injury.

Posh captain Mason-Clarke missed the cup victory over Swindon after coming off injured midway through last week's opener against Reading and is also a doubt.

In his absence, Ricky Jade-Jones should be handed a second consecutive starting appearance, teaming up with Kabongo Tshimanga and Kwame Poku in the final third.

Charlton Athletic, on the other hand, will take to the pitch without the services of experienced striker Chuks Aneke, who has been out of action since February through a calf injury.

He is joined on the club's injury table by teenage forward Miles Leaburn, who missed most of pre-season after suffering an ankle injury in the maiden friendly against Welling United at the start of July.

Alfie May, who netted 20 goals in the League One last season, will be looking to open his account for Charlton this weekend after failing to find the target in his first two games since his summer move from Cheltenham United.

Peterborough United possible starting lineup:

Bilokapic; Kioso, Edwards, Crichlow, Burrows; Kyprianou, Collins; Poku, Jade-Jones; Clark-Harris

Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:

Brewer; Jones, Ness, Thomas; Asiimwe, Anderson, Dobson, Fraser, Blackett-Taylor; May, Campbell

We say: Peterborough United 2-0 Charlton Athletic

While Charlton Athletic will be looking to return to winning ways, they face a spirited Peterborough United side who have flown out of the blocks this season. The Posh have enjoyed the better of this fixture in recent years and we are backing them to come away with all three points once again.

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