Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Championship clash between Luton Town and Cardiff City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Luton Town play host to Cardiff City on Wednesday evening looking for the victory that would move them level with their opponents in the Championship table.
At a time when the Hatters are struggling in the second tier, the visitors to Kenilworth Road are one of the form teams in the division.
Match preview
© Imago
While Rob Edwards still has credit in the bank from the last two seasons at Luton, it remains to be seen how long that will last.
Just one win in seven – against rivals Watford by a 3-0 scoreline – has left the Hatters only outside of the relegation zone on goal difference.
A certain level of context is required for their most recent games, Luton going down 2-1 and 3-2 to leaders Sunderland and improving Coventry City.
Furthermore, a 1-1 draw was posted against West Bromwich Albion last time out, Edwards’ side coming from behind to earn a much-needed share of the spoils.
Nevertheless, with just three victories from 13 league matches since relegation from the Premier League, Luton and Edwards must find a way to kick-start their campaign now that they sit nine points adrift of the playoffs.
Up until recently, Luton had been clear of a winless Cardiff outfit, yet the introduction of Omer Riza as caretaker head coach has proven to be an inspired move.
The Bluebirds have bounced back from six defeats in seven games by posting an astonishing 14 points from their following six matches.
A fourth home triumph in succession was posted on Saturday, Cardiff netting twice from the 89th minute onwards to register a comeback 2-1 success over Norwich City.
Riza will now look to take Cardiff’s form on familiar territory on their travels, the Welsh outfit having failed to post an away win in the league since defeating Birmingham City on April 10.
Luton Town Championship form:
Cardiff City Championship form:
Team News
Alfie Doughty will return to the Luton starting lineup after serving a one-match suspension for five yellow cards last time out.
However, Edwards must decide whether to keep Amari’i Bell in his back three with Tom Holmes also available again after a ban.
Shandon Baptiste and Jacob Brown are both options for Luton in midfield and attack respectively after making impacts during the second half versus West Brom.
With Callum Robinson having scored as a substitute versus Norwich, the Republic of Ireland international could be restored to the Cardiff attack.
Chris Willock could be the player to miss out, while Perry Ng will return at right-back after serving a one-match suspension.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Mengi, McGuinness, Bell; Moses, Krauss, Clark, Doughty; Chong; Adebayo, Morris
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, Chambers, O’Dowda; Siopis, Turnbull; Tanner, El Ghazi; Colwill, Robinson
We say: Luton Town 1-1 Cardiff City
Cardiff are the clear favourites for this contest and it will come as a surprise if they do not battle their way to a hard-earned victory. For us, though, Luton must surely click into gear at some stage and we are backing them to secure a share of the spoils here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
