Preview: Huddersfield Town vs Luton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Huddersfield Town will welcome Luton Town to the Accu Stadium on Tuesday for an important game in the hunt for top-six spots in the League One table.

The hosts made a winning start to life under new manager Liam Manning at the weekend, moving three points above the visitors who suffered a defeat.

Match preview

Huddersfield Town return to action on Tuesday aiming to make it back-to-back wins under the new management of Liam Manning and strengthen their top-six standing.

Lee Grant, who took charge in the summer, departed in mid-January, leaving the Terriers sixth in League One on 39 points from 27 outings in their bid for promotion back to the Championship.

A four-game league winless run to begin 2025, culminating in consecutive defeats, spelled the end of his tenure, lastly suffering a 3-1 loss away at strugglers Burton Albion despite levelling through Alfie May in the first half.

Then following the appointment of Manning, they set out to avoid dropping out of the playoff places at home to promotion-chasing Bradford City on Saturday and took all three points from a 1-0 triumph thanks to Marcus Harness's first-half goal, having seen out the final 30 minutes with 10 men.

Now with renewed optimism under their new boss, after previously possessing one of the division's weakest defences and a poor run of form, Huddersfield now sit three points clear of the seventh-placed visitors and will hope to cement their position in the top six with another win on Tuesday.

Their opponents, meanwhile, head to Yorkshire in search of a return to winning ways to move back level on points with the Terriers in their own promotion bid.

Aiming to climb back to the Championship at the first time of asking following back-to-back relegations, Luton Town currently sit seventh on 39 points from 27 games, having picked up 23 of those from 16 matches under the management of Jack Wilshere.

After staking their claim for a top-six spot with three wins in a four-game period between Boxing Day and early January, the Hatters have suffered a setback, firstly playing out a creditable 2-2 home draw with second-placed Lincoln City thanks to goals from Gideon Kodua and Nahki Wells.

A trip to Plymouth Argyle then followed on Saturday, and Wilshere's men would leave empty-handed for the fifth time in the league of his tenure, losing 1-0 as Brendan Galloway scored the only goal on the stroke of half time.

Now trailing sixth-placed Huddersfield by three points as a result of the weekend's swing, but with a game in hand, Luton Town will aim to narrow their gap to the playoffs on Tuesday with a bounce-back win.

Huddersfield Town League One form:

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Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):

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Luton Town League One form:

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Luton Town form (all competitions):

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Team News

Huddersfield Town remain unable to call on defenders Jack Whatmough and Sean Roughan and midfielders Antony Evans and Herbie Kane on Tuesday due to ongoing injuries.

Liam Manning may wish to field an unchanged starting XI from Saturday's win in his first game at the helm, but Marcus McGuane will miss out through suspension after his red card, meaning Cameron Humphreys should join Ryan Ledson in midfield from the outset.

Marcus Harness will operate ahead of them after his decisive goal against Bradford, while Bojan Radulovic and Alfie May should continue their attacking partnership having netted seven and five league goals respectively so far this term.

Luton Town are without Isaiah Jones, Shandon Baptiste, Ali Al-Hamadi and Elijah Adebayo on Tuesday as they remain confined to the treatment room.

Kasey Palmer made his debut at the weekend and should continue in support of front man and former Huddersfield striker Nahki Wells.

Gideon Kodua has been their main attacking threat recently on the wing, scoring five goals in his last five league appearances to move onto nine for the season, while George Saville will compete for a midfield spot after Liam Walsh and Jordan Clark got the nod at Plymouth.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:

Nicholls; Balker, Low, Wallace; Gooch, Ledson, Humphreys, Mumba; Harness; May, Radulovic

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Keeley; Lonwijk, Andersen, Naismith, Bramall; Clark, Walsh; Morris, Palmer, Kodua; Wells

We say: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Luton Town

Rejuvenated under their new boss and meeting a Luton Town side who have lost some momentum, we back Huddersfield Town to pick up a second consecutive three-point haul at the Accu Stadium on Tuesday.

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