Sports Mole previews Friday’s Championship clash between Luton Town and West Bromwich Albion, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Both aiming to get back to winning ways and improve their standings at opposite ends of the Championship table, Luton Town and West Bromwich Albion will meet in an important contest at Kenilworth Road on Friday.
After back-to-back defeats, the hosts find themselves 22nd after 12 league outings, one point adrift of safety, while their visitors have dropped to fifth spot in the midst of a six-match winless streak.
Match preview
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Luton Town head back to Kenilworth Road on Saturday aiming to bounce back from a poor start to their campaign on their return to the Championship this season.
After suffering relegation from the Premier League last time around and setting their sights on climbing back to the top flight under the management of Rob Edwards, they currently sit in the relegation zone having picked up just 11 points from their 12 outings thus far.
The Hatters headed into the October international break on the back of a three-match winless streak, and after returning in style by beating rivals Watford 3-0, they have failed to kickstart their season, most recently suffering back-to-back defeats in two tough tests last week.
Aiming to make it back-to-back wins following that derby victory, Edwards’s men hosted leaders Sunderland and suffered a 2-1 defeat, before most recently visiting Coventry City on Saturday and leading 2-0 until the hour mark through Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo, only for Ellis Simms and Victor Torp to level the scores before Haji Wright snatched all three points for the hosts in injury time.
Now sitting 22nd in England’s second tier, already four points outside of the top half and eight behind the playoff places, Luton Town face increasing pressure and will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways to trigger a climb at the weekend.
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Their visitors will bid to end a tough run of their own at Kenilworth Road at the weekend, having suffered a slump in recent weeks after making an eye-catching start to the campaign.
Aiming to build on last season’s fifth-placed finish and playoff semi-final defeat and launch another promotion bid, West Bromwich Albion went unbeaten in their first six outings and amassed 16 points to sit top, but they have since failed to add another notch to their wins column in sixth further attempts.
That slump began with a pair of defeats and the Baggies have since played out four straight draws, only managing to score once along the way in a trip to Oxford after the break.
Indeed, it is in defence where Carlos Corberan‘s side have excelled thus far, with their consecutive goalless stalemates with Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City last week making it seven for the campaign while only Burnley and Sheffield United have conceded fewer than the seven goals they have shipped.
Now sitting fifth as a result of their dip, West Bromwich Albion will be keen to build on that strong defensive record with some attacking improvement, beginning with the weekend’s trip to Luton.
Luton Town Championship form:
West Bromwich Albion Championship form:
Team News
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Luton Town’s defensive concerns were worsened in the weekend’s defeat to Coventry City, as Tom Holmes was sent off and Alfie Doughty picked up a fifth yellow card of the season, meaning they will miss Friday’s meeting due to suspensions.
Edwards had already fielded a makeshift back three for that game, with Mads Andersen, Teden Mengi, Reece Burke, Amari’i Bell and Reuell Walters all sidelined, and they could again miss out on Saturday meaning Joe Johnson and Marvelous Nakamba may come in to deputise with no other senior defenders available.
Liam Walsh will compete with Tom Krauss to join Jordan Clark in midfield, while Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo will continue to partner up in attack having both scored against Coventry while the latter has found the net in back-to-back league games.
West Bromwich Albion head into the weekend with selection concerns of their own at the back, as Kyle Bartley is set to remain sidelined while Paddy McNair was forced off inside five minutes of their draw with Cardiff City last weekend.
In their absence, Mason Holgate should come in to join Semi Ajayi at the heart of the back four from the outset, while Alex Mowatt and Uros Racic are bound to continue in the engine room.
Aiming to inspire an increase in goalscoring form, Carlos Corberan could make some changes to his attacking setup, with Tom Fellows, Karlan Grant and Jed Wallace all fighting to come in and support front man Josh Maja, who has netted seven of the Baggies’ 13 league goals so far this term.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Hashioka, McGuinness, Johnson; Moses, Clark, Krauss, Nakamba; Chong; Morris, Adebayo
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Holgate, Heggem; Mowatt, Racic; Grant, Swift, Fellows; Maja
We say: Luton Town 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion have certainly struggled going forward recently, but they could return to form against a threadbare Luton Town defence and could seal a return to winning ways at Kenilworth Road as a result.
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