Huddersfield vs Bristol Rovers Prediction: Wiles to fire Town to back-to-back wins

The international break comes to an end (finally) and we're back to the cut and thrust of the English Football League. In League 1, we have a 3pm kickoff from the John Smith's Stadium.

We've asked our own Terrier to preview this one and give us his Huddersfield vs Bristol Rovers Predictions, as well as all the latest odds, stats and team news. 

The international break couldn't really have come at a worse time for both Town manager Michael Duff and his Gas counterpart Matt Taylor, after going into the enforced hiatus on the back of wins, which had got their respective sides out of a funk of bad results.

Both sides had lost four straight in the league but the Terriers picked up two much-needed confidence boosting wins against local rivals Barnsley in league and cup, while Rovers beat both Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion in League 1 to draw themselves away from the relegation zone.

Now the two do battle on Saturday afternoon and it's anyone's guess as to how it might shake down, with both sides displaying a consistent level of inconsistency thus far this season.

Town sit just point from the play-offs thanks to early season results and while Bristol are down in 18th spot, they can go above their hosts on Saturday in the table, if they were to pick up a third-straight win.

Football Odds

Team news

Duff received some more bad injury news this week, with Watford loanee Joe Hodge out for a couple of months with a groin injury. That was the latest in a line of issues to key players for the manager, with no. 1 keeper Lee Nichols, leading scorer Josh Koroma and star centre-back Michal Helik all out. He will either be replaced by Jonathon Hogg, Antony Evans (against his former club) or Herbie Kane in the centre of midfield.

Meanwhile, striker Rhys Healey will have to be assessed, after being substituted during a club 'B' game in midweek with illness and Brodie Spencer misses the game through suspension, after accumulating five cautions this season.

As for Taylor, he had mixed news in midweek with striker Gatlin O'Donkor confirmed to be missing several weeks with a hamstring injury. However, last year's leading scorer Chris Martin is nearing a comeback, as is Joel Senior but this game has come too soon for them both.

Huddersfield vs Bristol Rovers Odds

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

After their win against Barnsley, Huddersfield are odds on at 1/2 to pick up three points, giving Town an implied win probability of 66%, while Bristol are the 11/2 outsiders, or a 15% chance.

The draw is also available at price of 100/30, with both teams to score at 4/5 and goals expected with over 2.5 goals at 4/6.

Huddersfield to win and over 2.5 goals @ 23/20

As alluded to above, this is a tough game to predict but Betfred make Town a solid favourite to win in front of their home support. I'm inclined to agree and looking at the two squads and the respective budgets, it's a game that Hudders will be expected to win.

I'm going to double up the home victory with over 2.5 goals, with their games averaging 2.5 goals this season, whilst the Gas are averaging 2.9 goals per game and have cleared this over 2.5 line in their last six straight league games.

Ben Wiles anytime goal scorer @ 12/5

After a really disappointing debut season for the Terriers, central-midfielder Wiles has come back for year two looking a lot fitter, a lot fresher and as a result is shining brighter (at an admittedly lower level).

The 25-year-old had the best year of his career in the third tier with Rotherham United back in 2021/22, scoring eight league goals and Town fans had high hopes for similar, when he joined in the summer of 2023 for a reported seven-figure-plus fee.

However, he is now finally starting to live up to that price tag and has netted four goals this stanza, to make him joint-top scorer along with Koroma. He is employed in a box-to-box role as part of a midfield three and most of his goals have come with him arriving late into the box to thrash the ball into the net.

Playing full of confidence and with Duff's 3-5-2 formation playing to his strengths, it allows Wiles to get forward while the likes of David Kasumu or Hogg sit in a deeper role.

He should get at least one big chance on Saturday and don't be surprised if this newly-revived midfielder takes the most of it.

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