League One outfits Huddersfield Town and Barnsley will meet for the second time in the space of three days on Tuesday evening, with the two teams locking horns in the EFL Trophy.
The pair went head-to-head in League One on Saturday afternoon, with Huddersfield running out 2-0 winners, and they will now face off for three points in Northern Group F of the EFL Trophy.
Match preview
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Huddersfield entered Saturday’s clash with Barnsley off the back of a four-game losing run in League One, but they managed to record all three points against the Reds, with Ben Wiles and David Kasumu on the scoresheet.
The Terriers were relegated from the Championship last season, and they will be expecting to be in the mix to secure an automatic return to the second tier for the 2025-26 campaign, but an inconsistent start has left them in ninth spot in the League One table, boasting 15 points from 10 matches.
Michael Duff‘s side will undoubtedly view the league as their priority this season, meaning that it will be a heavily-rotated side that takes to the field in the EFL Trophy.
Huddersfield made a disappointing start to their 2024-25 campaign at the start of September, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Doncaster Rovers, which has left them bottom of Northern Group F.
The Terriers have actually won their last three games against Barnsley in all competitions, including a 1-0 success in an FA Cup fixture in February 2022.
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Barnsley finished sixth in League One last season, which saw them qualify for the playoffs, but they were beaten by Bolton Wanderers in the semi-finals.
The Tykes have won four, drawn three and lost three of their 10 League One matches this season to collect 15 points, which has left them in 10th position in the table, level on points with ninth-placed Huddersfield.
Darrell Clarke‘s side started their EFL Trophy campaign with a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United Under-21s, with the Red Devils coming from two goals behind to incredibly triumph in the latter stages.
Barnsley, like Huddersfield, will view the league as their priority this season, but this competition does give a number of fringe players opportunities to impress.
The visitors have actually now lost each of their last three matches in this competition, with their last EFL Trophy triumph proving to be a 3-1 success over Manchester City Under-21s in September 2023.
Huddersfield Town EFL Trophy form:
Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):
Barnsley EFL Trophy form:
Barnsley form (all competitions):
Team News
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Huddersfield head coach Duff will shuffle his pack for the EFL Trophy affair, with a whole host of changes expected from their League One fixture at the weekend.
There is a chance that it could be the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Doncaster in their first match of the 2024-25 competition, with Daniel Ward likely to operate in the final third of the field.
As for Barnsley, there will also be a host of changes from Saturday’s contest, with Kyran Lofthouse set to be among those to be introduced into the XI.
Vimal Yoganathan, 18, came up with a brace against Man United Under-21s last time out, and there is a strong chance that he will get another start in the competition on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Bland should also be given another chance to impress from the first whistle, but Adam Phillips will again be unavailable for selection due to a toe problem.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Chapman; Pearson, Ruffels, Lonwijk; Turton, Ashia, Iorpenda, Vost, Headley; Thomas, Ward
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Killip; McCarthy, Wilkinson, Lopata, Gent; Nejman, Bland, Benson; Lofthouse, Russell, Yoganathan
This will be a completely different match from Saturday’s league fixture, with both managers preparing to make wholesale changes, but we can see Huddersfield securing two quick-fire wins over Barnsley.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.