Luton Town cannot afford to drop any points when they welcome Everton to Kenilworth Road on Friday.
The 2023/24 Premier League season will end soon, with only three rounds of fixtures remaining before the curtains fall. Gameweek 36 kicks off with a rare Friday night game, with Luton Town hosting Everton at Kenilworth Road in a crucial clash in the relegation dogfight.
Luton Town came into the 2023/24 season as one of the favourites to go down to the EFL Championship. While the Hatters have spent most of the campaign in the bottom three, they have impressed one and all with their resilience and stubborn displays. However, resilience will only get one so far, considering time is running out for Rob Edwards and his charges to ensure safety.
As for Everton, they have endured a tumultuous 2023/24 campaign thus far. The Toffees have had uncertainties surrounding their status, having been handed a ten-point penalty before the authorities reduced it. Recent reports have suggested that another sanction might be on the cards. However, unless that happens, Sean Dyche and his charges are safe after opening up a ten-point lead to Luton Town.
Luton Town and Everton have locked horns twice this season, with the Hatters clinching a 2-1 win in both fixtures. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Luton Town
Rob Edwards does not have any new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. Against Everton on Saturday, the Luton Town manager will be bereft of the services of eight first-team players.
Tom Lockyer might have played the last game of his career after suffering a heart attack in December. Meanwhile, Issa Kabore (ankle), Amari’i Bell (hamstring), Mads Andersen (calf), Chiedozie Ogbene (thigh), Dan Potts (hamstring), Jacob Brown (knee), and Marvelous Nakamba (knee) remain on the radar.
However, there have been suggestions that Edwards might take a risk with Edwards, although that might not happen. So, Teden Mengi, Reece Burke, and Gabriel Osho will form the central defensive trifecta, with Thomas Kaminski taking his spot between the sticks.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ross Barkley. Daiki Hashioka and Alfie Doughty should be the two wing-backs, with the duo providing width in the final third. Tahith Chong should reprise the no. 10 role and pull the strings in the advanced areas, with Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo leading the line for Luton Town against Everton.
Probable Lineup (3-4-1-2): Kaminski; Mengi, Burke, Osho; Hashioka, Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty; Chong; Morris, Adebayo
Everton
Unlike his counterpart in the Luton Town dugout, Sean Dyche has new issues to deal with ahead of the trip to Kenilworth Road. The Everton manager will be without three first-team players on Friday.
Vitaliy Mykolenko is the latest absentee after picking up a season-ending ankle injury last weekend against Brentford. The Ukrainian international has joined Nathan Patterson (thigh) and Dele Alli (groin) on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Dyche is sweating over the fitness of Seamus Coleman (groin) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (illness).
Jordan Pickford is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Everton lining up in a 4-4-1-1 formation in front of him against Luton Town. The backline should feature Ben Godfrey, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, and Ashley Young.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Jack Harrison, James Garner, Idrissa Gueye, and Dwight McNeil. Harrison and McNeil should provide the width in the advanced areas, with Gueye and Garner looking to keep things tight in the middle of the park. Calvert-Lewin should lead the line for the away side, with Abdoulaye Doucoure playing behind him.
Probable Lineup (4-4-1-1): Pickford; Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Young; Harrison, Garner, Gueye, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin
Key Stats
- Luton Town have already beaten Everton twice this season, once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup fourth round. As a league club, the Hatters last beat another team three times in one season in 1988/89 (West Ham United). Leeds United in 1964/65 were the most recently promoted club to beat the Toffees thrice in a season.
- Luton Town have won just one of their most recent 14 Premier League games (D3 L10), with no side picking up fewer points than the Hatters since the start of this run (six). Despite that, they have only failed to score in one of their 23 most recent top-flight matches – a 2-0 defeat at league leaders Arsenal last month.
- Everton are without a win in nine away Premier League games (D3 L6) since beating Burnley 2-0 in December. Five of the Toffees’ first eight league wins this season came away from home, but the four most recent victories have all been at Goodison Park.
- Carlton Morris is Luton Town’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with ten goals. He has scored in four of his last six appearances at Kenilworth Road, also netting the Hatters’ winner in the reverse fixture against Everton.
- Ross Barkley, who made 150 league appearances for Everton between 2011 and 2017, has scored just one goal in ten Premier League games against sides he has previously played for in the competition. That strike came in a match at Kenilworth Road this season in a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea.
Player to Watch
Ross Barkley
When the going has been tough, Ross Barkley has usually been the player to raise his hand and produce a game-changing performance for Luton Town. Very few gave him the chance to resurrect his stuttering career when the Hatters took a chance on him last summer.
However, the Englishman has made his mark with aplomb throughout the 2023/24 season. Barkley has arguably been Luton’s best player, and the hosts need him to step up and guide them to safety from relegation. Expect a game-changing display by the former Everton talisman as he looks to take Luton Town out of the relegation zone.
Prediction
Luton Town 2-1 Everton
The two teams have been on the opposite end of the spectrum on form in recent weeks. However, the Hatters have seemingly had the measure of Everton thus far this season, even if both victories have come with a one-goal margin. The hosts have the added motivation of survival, considering they are running out of time to ensure their safety.
So, with their backs to the wall, expect the Hatters to leave everything on the pitch and try to ensure three points. However, the Toffees have a solid defensive unit and will unlikely concede many chances. But should witness a closely contested affair on Friday, with Rob Edwards’s charges clinching a 2-1 win with a prolific display to keep their hopes alive.