When the Yankees last faced the Guardians, during the opening days of July, nobody was ready to peg the series as a potential playoff matchup.

But the two teams will meet again, beginning Tuesday at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS, a best-of-five series for the right to play the Astros or Mariners in the ALCS. The Yankees enter following five straight days off (with team workouts on four of them) while the Guardians were fending off the Rays in a two-game, wild-card series sweep, giving up just one run across 24 innings.

The Yankees won the season series 5-1 — sweeping three games in The Bronx in April before taking two of three in Cleveland in July — but both teams have changed plenty since they last shared a field.

The Post’s Greg Joyce takes a look at how the Yankees and Guardians match up for the ALDS:

Both teams get on base at solid clips. The Yankees have a .325 OBP, the majors’ fourth-best mark during the regular season, and the Guardians posted a .316 OBP, the 12th-best mark. They do it, however, in different ways. While the Yankees largely do it with slugging, the Guardians lean on a contact-oriented approach, with more singles, doubles and triples, but much fewer homers and walks. Rookie outfielder Steven Kwan leads the way for Cleveland, batting .298 with a .373 OBP. Perennial MVP candidate Jose Ramirez hit .280 with a .355 OBP. Aaron Judge’s chase for 62 home runs helped boost his OBP to .425 as teams pitched him carefully, especially down the stretch.

Edge: Even

The Yankees and Guardians couldn’t be much different in this regard. The Yankees, in large part because of Judge, led the majors with 254 home runs, while the Guardians hit the second-fewest, with 127. Ramirez (29) is their biggest power threat and first baseman Josh Naylor ended up with 20. The Guardians had just five players hit double-digit home runs, but the Yankees had 10, with Rizzo (32), Giancarlo Stanton (31) and Gleyber Torres (24) joining Judge as legitimate threats to go deep at any time.

Edge: Yankees

Nobody will mistake the Yankees for a speedy team, but they did finish with 102 steals. Isiah Kiner-Falefa swiped 22 bases with Judge (16), Torres (10) and Aaron Hicks (10) joining him in double-digits. The Guardians’ 119 were the third-most in the majors. Myles Straw led Cleveland with 21, though Ramirez (20), former Met Andres Gimenez (20), Kwan (19) and another ex-Met, Amed Rosario (18), were close behind. FanGraphs’ base-running metric also graded the Guardians (13.2 BsR) more favorably than the Yankees (-5.7 BsR).

Edge: Guardians

The Yankees’ biggest strengths are at catcher and third base: Jose Trevino (first) and Josh Donaldson (tied for eighth) are among the best at their positions in Defensive Runs Saved, per Fielding Bible. The metrics also like Kiner-Falefa at shortstop, though he has at times struggled with routine plays. The Guardians also have a quality backstop, Austin Hedges, and Gimenez has been a Gold Glove candidate at second base.

Edge: Yankees

The Guardians’ Straw was one of the best defensive center fielders in the game this year, registering 13 Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant, the fourth-most in the majors. Kwan was also a standout in left field, with eight OAA, while right fielder Oscar Gonzalez was below-average. The Yankees’ outfield got stronger by adding Gold Glover Harrison Bader (seven OAA) to center field and putting Judge back in right field, where he is better defensively. Rookie Oswaldo Cabrera has also been impressive in the corner spots, despite being relatively new to the outfield.

Edge: Guardians

The Yankees are expected to get a boost with the return of Matt Carpenter, who has been out since early August with a broken foot, as a left-handed pinch-hit option. If D.J. LeMahieu (toe) makes the roster, the Yankees would have to leave a starting infielder on the bench. Tim Locastro or rookie Oswald Peraza could make it as a pinch-running threat. The Guardians have a much more inexperienced bench, made up of mostly rookies.

Edge: Yankees

The Yankees will roll out Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino in the first three games. Despite Cole’s late-season struggles and propensity for giving up the long ball, he remains capable of pitching like a $324 million ace. Cortes will get his first playoff experience, but he has held up well late in the season and has been the Yankees’ most consistent starter. Severino is coming in hot after throwing seven no-hit innings his last time out. The Guardians will match with Cal Quantrill, Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie. Quantrill doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters, but finds a way to be effective. Bieber and McKenzie are more formidable foes with strikeout stuff, though the Yankees have beaten up Bieber before.

Edge: Even

Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase offers the kind of back-end stability and dominance the Yankees had early this season with Clay Holmes before he stumbled in the second half. Clase led the majors with 42 saves in 46 chances — though the Yankees are responsible for one of his blown saves, in April on Torres’ walk-off single. The Yankees hope Holmes can return to form from a shoulder strain, but they may be forced to navigate the late innings based more on matchups.

Edge: Guardians

Few, if any, active managers are more experienced in the postseason than Cleveland’s Terry Francona, who has seen it all in the postseason — and twice won it all. He has done another fine job turning the young Guardians into a playoff team. Aaron Boone has the Yankees back in the postseason, and while the road to get there ended up being a little rockier than initially expected, his even-keeled approach has paid off.

Edge: Guardians

Is it more advantageous to come in off five days of rest, as the Yankees did, or to have momentum, as the Guardians do, after winning the wild-card series? Time will tell, but the Yankees also have home-field advantage and Judge on their side.

Edge: Yankees