After being relegated the season before the Premier League started in 1992, Luton Town have finally returned to the promised land of the top flight of English football.
This means that they will be part of FPL for the first time ever in the 2023-24 season. When looking at their opening five games, it will be interesting to consider whether it is worth having any of their players in your FPL team.
With the fact it is their first ever Premier League season and there will be a tangible buzz within the Luton side, some of their players could be worth looking at as some budget options in your FPL team. But first let’s look at Luton’s early season opponents.
Luton Town’s first five Premier League fixtures ever are:
- Brighton & Hove Albion (Away)
- Burnley (Home)
- Chelsea (Away)
- West Ham (Home)
- Fulham (Away)
For Luton’s first ever Premier League season they have an interesting set of opening fixtures. Travelling to Brighton to kick it all off will be a huge challenge, facing the side that earned sixth place last season under Roberto De Zerbi.
Even with ‘The Seagulls’ losing Alexis Mac Allister and looking like they will let Moises Caicedo leave, Brighton have been very well-regarded in recent years for their recruitment. No matter what side they face at the Amex, it will be a tough first challenge for Luton.
Then a meeting with the newly promoted Burnley could see a positive result. In their first home game back in the top flight at their iconic 10,300 capacity Kenilworth Road ground there will be an electric atmosphere. The unknown nature of Luton in the Premier League leads to questions about how teams will deal with the new kids on the block, but Burnley know them from the Championship. This will be a fun game to watch.
Next up, the journey to Stamford Bridge is a tough one to call. Even with Chelsea’s horrific campaign last season, with Mauricio Pochettino taking over the Blues Luton could be facing an entirely different beast. Chelsea were able to avoid defeat in the three home games they faced against the newly promoted sides last season, but those results did include two draws, to Fulham in February and Nottingham Forest in May. If Chelsea can start quickly and aggressively under the new management of Pochettino then it could be a long day at the office for Luton Town.
The penultimate game of their opening five is against a West Ham side potentially without captain Declan Rice, which could offer more of a chance of collecting a positive result and performance. ‘The Hammers’ will still be high on confidence after their UEFA Conference League title, ending a 58-year wait for a major European trophy. But they were only able to finish 14th in the Premier League last season and without their main man Rice it could be a slow start to the season for David Moyes.
A well-drilled Fulham side under Marko Silva is the final game of the opening five for Luton. A game that could be easily won, drawn, or lost depending on what type of Fulham side turns up on the day. They are a team that showed top quality last season but also under-performed, especially when they went six without a win from February to April. If Fulham can keep hold of their key players from last season, Craven Cottage will not be an easy place to take points from for the 2023-24 season.
In terms of which Luton players to consider for your FPL team, going from the back first, Amiri’i Bell is someone who was persistently present in the Hatters promotion campaign. The flexible defender was present for 19 clean sheets last season and was able to net once, on New Year’s Day against Huddersfield.
Flying wing back Alfie Doughty will be either positioned as a defender or midfielder for FPL next season. After joining from Stoke at the start of last season, the left-footed Londoner was able to contribute two goals and five assists. The seven goal contributions came in 28 Championship appearances and with more minutes next season we could see improved numbers for Doughty.
The source for the majority of Luton’s goals last season was Carlton Morris. The former Norwich striker was able to notch in 20 goals in the 2022-23 campaign. In the 46 games played before the playoffs, as a team, Luton managed 57 goals. This indicates the importance of Morris, as he contributed over a third of the goals scored. Possibly as the third striker for your FPL team, the 6’2” forward should be checked out.
