Two sides competing at opposite ends of the Championship meet on Tuesday evening, with Peterborough United hosting Huddersfield Town at the Weston Homes Stadium.

Peterborough were comprehensively beaten at the weekend to leave them hovering just above the relegation zone, whilst their visitors achieved a narrow victory to regain their place in the playoff spots heading into this one.

Match preview

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After achieving back-to-back 2-1 victories over Hull City and Queens Park Rangers across the previous week, Peterborough could not follow them up with another positive result at Swansea City on Saturday.

Darren Ferguson's side were completely outplayed in South Wales, in what was a game that they would not have expected too much from anyway.

However, the manager will have been disappointed with the performance of his team, particularly in the first half in which the Posh were in fact 3-0 down come half time.

Attempting just two shots themselves all game, Peterborough failed to muster together any response in the second half and were perhaps fortunate that the scoreline was not extended further by their hosts, to leave the final score at 3-0.

A response will be expected by Ferguson on Tuesday evening, particularly in front of their own supporters, where they will look to build on their decent record achieved in this campaign so far.

Just two defeats in seven home Championship matches mean Peterborough have picked up 11 of their 14 league points on home soil during the 2021-22 campaign to date, with their record at the Weston Homes Stadium likely to prove vital in their quest to avoid an immediate relegation back to League One come May.

Heading into Tuesday's match, the hosts do find themselves outside of the relegation places, currently occupying 20th place at the time of writing, and five points above Hull in the first relegation spot.

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Meanwhile, whilst Tuesday's opponents compete at the wrong end of the table, Huddersfield find themselves on the hunt for an unlikely playoff spot after an impressive start to the campaign.

Carlos Corberan's side are one of a number of surprise packages at the start of the new season in this incredibly competitive division, and currently occupy fifth position as a result.

Although there were a few grumbles within the fanbase at the style of football and the poor results just a few weeks back, Corberan has transformed the mood in recent weeks after recording just a single defeat in their last six matches.

Performances have still remained inconsistent and they appear to be playing far from their best in the majority of their matches, but the ability to achieve positive results despite this suggest that Huddersfield have quickly become a strong side and one that should be in and around the playoff spots come the end of the season.

Creating chances from open play has been one of the biggest concerns during the opening weeks of the season, with the Terriers playing well through the lines up the pitch until they reach the final third, where they then seem to lack the ideas required to create some clear openings.

However, with a settled defence consisting of Matty Pearson, Tom Lees and on-loan Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill, along with the impressive emergence of Welshman Sorba Thomas at wing-back, Town have built solid foundations that mean they are difficult to break down for the opposition and concede few chances as a result.

This, coupled with their constant threat from set-piece situations, means they are a frustrating opponent to play against, and are traits that Peterborough will have to be mindful of on Tuesday evening.

Team News

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Peterborough will remain without the attacking trio of Joel Randall, Ricky-Jade Jones and Jack Marriott on Tuesday evening, with all three remaining on the sidelines due to various long-term injuries.

Danger-man Jonson Clarke-Harris returned from a four-match suspension at the weekend as a second-half substitute, and he may have to settle for a place on the bench again against Huddersfield.

As for the visitors, they will remain without a long-term trio of their own for the trip to Peterborough.

Pipa, Jordan Rhodes and Aaron Rowe have all been sidelined for a long period and will be missing for at least another three to four weeks yet.

Goalkeeper Ryan Schofield has also been unavailable for a number of weeks due to a back problem. He is expected to return to training this week but would only be expected to make the bench were he to return anyway.

Midfielder Alex Vallejo is also expected to miss out, in what could be an unchanged starting lineup from the 1-0 win over Millwall on Saturday.

Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Thompson, Edwards, Beevers; Ward, Norburn, Taylor, Burrows; Grant, Dembele, Szmodics

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Lees, Colwill; Thomas, Hogg, O'Brien, Toffolo; Sinani, Ward, Holmes

We say: Peterborough United 1-1 Huddersfield Town

This encounter is a tough one to call on Tuesday considering the differing fortunes of each team at home and on the road.

Peterborough possess a strong home record despite their position in the table, whilst Huddersfield have not been as consistent on their away trips as they would have liked, so we are predicting the sides to cancel each other out and draw here.

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