The State of Play
There has been a sense that Luton Town would take a major scalp in the Premier League this season against one of the so-called ‘big six’ at Kenilworth Road. Thus far, they have led against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal but only collected one point from those games as well as pushing Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea to just a one-goal deficit defeat. They will be expecting to at the very least push Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils come into this one on the back of an unbeaten start to the calendar year of 2024 and their 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa made it four successive victories across all competitions. United have remained fairly unconvincing in those wins, though, despite a clear and genuine improvement in their performances. They have remained low-scoring, though, matching Luton’s scoring tally this season.
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Team News
Luton remain without club captain Tom Lockyer after his cardiac arrest that he suffered back in December and they are also set to remain without Zimbabwean midfielder Marvelous Nakamba due to injury.
Manchester United have recently stumbled upon what is widely viewed as their first choice midfield of Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes but United remain without the likes of Mason Mount and Lisandro Martinez.
Expected Line-ups
Luton: Kaminski; Burke, Osho, Bell; Ogbene, Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty; Clark; Morris, Adebayo
Man Utd: Onana; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Mainoo, Casemiro; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
What they Said
Despite their loss to Sheffield United last week, Luton boss Rob Edwards insisted it was not the favourites tag that did for them. He said “I’d like to think not as I want us to get to the point where we are favourites more often.”
Erik ten Hag has discussed the potential appointment of Dan Ashworth as Sporting Director of the club in midweek. “I think it is very important you are on one page about football philosophy, about football tactics, about the profiles of the players you need in the team so it is very important to have very good communication so you get the right players.”
When and How to Watch
This match is being played at Kenilworth Road and will kick off at 16:30 on Sunday February 16th and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. It will also be able to be streamed live via the Sky Go app.
Prediction
As mentioned, there is an expectation that Luton Town will edge past a big club this season in the Premier League and this weekend seems like a better chance than ever. Rob Edwards’ side had been in excellent form before suffering a 3-1 defeat at home to Sheffield United last weekend so should be able to react quite well against a United team that have been susceptible against pretty much every this year. As a result, despite the low-scoring nature of both sides, both teams scoring would appear a good bet.
