Charlton vs Huddersfield Prediction: Back Taylor to score in the capital

The EFL is back in full after a lengthy international break and in League 1, play-off hopefuls Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town do battle at The Valley on Saturday afternoon (12:30).

Our very own Terrier Adam Roberts is on hand to preview this one and he's given us his Charlton vs Huddersfield Prediction, as well as all the latest odds, stats and team news. 

This early kick-off provides a great opportunity for both sides to firmly ensconce themselves in the League 1 play-off picture. For Charlton, an automatic place is still not entirely out of the realms of possibility but Nathan Jones' side will need a ridiculous finish to the season to pip the likes of Wycombe and Wrexham.

That said, despite disappointing losses to league-leaders Birmingham and then Peterborough last week, they have been in a rich vein of form, registering 10 wins in their last 14 league games. The Addicks will no doubt present a rigorous challenge to any potential play-off opponent.

Jones has turned around a Charlton side who finished 16th in the league last season and lost their leading scorer Alfie May to the Blues over the summer. Can he now repeat the same sort of heroics that saw him lead Luton up through the football pyramid?

As for Huddersfield, it's been the usual month full of chaos. Firstly, they lost four games in five, which saw the end of Michael Duff's short tenure in charge of the side. Some may say it was a harsh sacking, with a whole litany of crucial injuries stacking up against him, but any actual fan of the club will have seen how turgid and predictable the football had become and it was no real shock to hear the news.

Duff was replaced by former player and current academy boss Jon Worthington in an interim role till the end of the season and the team responded immediately with a 5-1 thrashing of lowly Crawley Town in their first outing under him. A far cry from the same squad that had not scored a goal at home since the 29th December!

Then throw in some supporter outrage about a huge increase in (the admittedly cheap for many years) season cards, as well as a campaign to remove the director of football Mark Cartwright and its fair to say it's not been a happy camp in West Yorkshire recently.

However, there have been some changes made to the card structure this week, which should alleviate a lot of the complaints and another win in south-east London under a newly buoyant Worthington-led side, could see the Terriers become a live threat when the play-offs come rolling around.

Football Odds

Team news

Jones may be tempted to rotate the squad after the dismal 3-0 loss to Posh last week but they will likely be without 6ft 7in striker Miles Leaburn, who is being assessed for a troubling quad injury. If unfit, he will join Ashley Maynard-Brewer in the treatment room.

Worthington is still dealing with the same injury crisis that so hampered Duff's time in charge of the Terriers but the former Town midfielder sounded bullish on the prospect of some players potentially returning this weekend, which could throw open the door for the likes of David Kasumu, Radinio Balker and Josh Koroma.

One man who should feature is winger Tawanda Chirewa, who is on loan from Wolves and scored a shock equaliser for Zimbabwe against Nigeria on international duty.

Charlton vs Huddersfield Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Charlton vs Huddersfield page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Charlton are 1/1 to pick up another three points at home, while Huddersfield can be backed at 11/4, giving them an implied chance of 26.7%

The draw is available at 12/5, with both teams to score at 4/5 and over 2.5 goals at 1/1.

Addicks leading scorer Matty Godden is favourite to open the scoring at 11/2, while Josh Koroma is 8/1 to score first for Town.

Both teams to score @ 4/5

I struggled with this first pick and wrote down both Charlton and Huddersfield to win at various points. The fact remains that I'm not sure which version of the Addicks or the Terriers will turn up at The Valley. Will it be the Charlton side that have been imperious in recent months on their march up the table? Or will it be the side that surrendered at London Road last week?

Similarly will the new found goal-scoring freedom found under Worthington remain in place during a trip to the capital or was the win over Crawley just a new manager bounce against a really poor defence. It remains to be seen...

One thing I'm fairly confident about though is goals. Neither of these sides are rock solid at the back and both possess enough fire power to trouble the others back line.

The 4/5 on offer for both teams to score looks generous given there were nine goals scored in their last two combined fixtures.

Joe Taylor to score anytime @ 3/1

One man who will be raring to go on a trip back to London will be Town striker Joe Taylor. The 22-year-old joined for big money (for Huddersfield) in the January window from Luton and when fit has looked the real deal.

He struggled with a hamstring issue but has scored twice in three full starts and clearly knows where the net is. Taylor is a real threat at this level as evidenced by his 10 goals in 19 games for Lincoln last season and if he is given any opportunities here, expect him to let fly with regularity.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.