Huddersfield Town welcome Wigan Athletic to the John Smith's Stadium on 24 October 2026 for a League One clash that has promotion hopefuls on one side and a side rooted to the bottom of the table on the other. Huddersfield sit second with 22 points from 11 games, buoyed by a strong run of results, whereas Wigan have managed just seven points from 10 matches and remain in the relegation zone.
Martin Drury and Gary Caldwell have no documented prior meetings as opposing managers, making this their first direct encounter. Drury replaced Liam Manning on 27 May 2026, while Caldwell took charge on 16 February 2026 after succeeding Ryan Lowe.
Huddersfield arrive in excellent shape, their last five league outings reading W W D W W, including a convincing 4-1 victory over Peterborough United on 20 October 2026 and a 2-0 win at Plymouth Argyle three days earlier, with only a 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday to temper things. Wigan's record over the same stretch is far more erratic at L W L W L, alternating wins and losses to yield just seven points from ten games.
Huddersfield are missing Radinio Balker, Murray Wallace and Jack Whatmough, along with Marcus McGuane on a long term cruciate injury, Herbie Kane with a thigh problem, David Kasumu and Ryan Ledson (elbow, plus an ongoing FA probe). Wigan are similarly stretched: Fraser Murray is suspended after a red card, Luke Harris is ruled out for months, Ryan Trevitt is absent with a hamstring problem, Dara Costelloe and Joseph Whitworth are sidelined by injury and Max Power is a doubt.
Huddersfield play front foot, high pressing football that has made them prolific scorers and given them strong home form this season, though the midfield and defensive absences will force Drury to lean more heavily on the remaining core to sustain that intensity. Joe Taylor has scored around eight goals this season and previously enjoyed a productive loan spell at Wigan, while Derensili Sanches Fernandes has contributed around five goals alongside him in the final third. The midfield battle will be important: Huddersfield's available options need to win second balls quickly to feed the forwards, particularly against a Wigan side that also tries to play aggressively and blood younger players.
Wigan's modest goal tally and poor away record suggest they will struggle to sustain pressure once Huddersfield establish control. Hogan leads the line as Wigan's most direct attacking option and Weir has contributed goals from midfield this season, while Saydee can hurt teams when he receives the ball on the turn but the suspensions and injuries leave gaps that Huddersfield's press can exploit. Huddersfield can still call on Taylor, Radulovic and Fernandes, whereas Wigan's forward options are thinner than they would like without Murray, Harris and Trevitt and that difference in available attacking options could prove telling.
Wigan's defensive absences could leave them short of aerial cover at set pieces and a reshuffled back line will need to be well organised to restrict a Huddersfield side that has netted multiple goals in recent home games. Huddersfield need three points to stay in touch with the automatic promotion places, Wigan need a result simply to ease pressure at the foot of the table.
We're backing Huddersfield to win 3-1, with Joe Taylor likely to open the scoring after a quick transition and Derensili Sanches Fernandes adding a second before half time. Wigan may pull one back through Scott Hogan on the counter but Huddersfield should restore the cushion late through Bojan Radulovic. A third league defeat in four would leave Wigan five points from safety with their schedule not easing.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
