Luton Town will be looking to notch their first points in the Premier League when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers. In their most recent matchup, the Hatters lost 1-0 to Fulham. Gary O’Neil’s team was defeated 3-1 by Liverpool after holding a 1-0 lead.
Preview (Luton Town vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Luton’s first top-flight campaign since the 1991–92 season has started about as badly as many people anticipated. A narrow victory against Gillingham in the second round of the EFL Cup is their only win. Luton was able to contain Fulham in the first half of their match against Fulham last Saturday.
However, the Cottagers’ star substitute Carlos Vinicius overcame the Hatters’ defense 20 minutes into the second half. He scored the game-winning goal in London, handing Luton its fourth straight Premier League loss in 2023–24. Only Everton, who have played one more game, and Burnley, who are now in 20th position, are the other teams with a zero next to their name in the points column and have scored a league-low two goals thus far. Burnley held out for a draw at Nottingham Forest on Monday.
The Kenilworth Road faithful would have obviously been realistic about their team’s goals for their debut Premier League season. The wolves’ current situation surely gives the Hatters crowd some optimism of a first top-flight win in nearly 31 years. Wolves took advantage of Liverpool’s defensive problems. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate didn’t start at Molineux last weekend—and pounded the Reds with attacks. It took them just seven minutes to get on the board thanks to a Hwang Hee-chan goal.
Although Joe Gomez may still occasionally dream about Pedro Neto, the Liverpool defender went to bed a happier man as Cody Gakpo and Andrew Robertson helped Liverpool take the lead before Harvey Elliott’s shot reached the back of the net after deflecting off Hugo Bueno. The West Midlands crop are now languishing in 16th place after a fourth loss in five games. Wolves have only won one of its past 11 away Premier League games. A hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Everton at Goodison Park last month. Only Burnley (12) has allowed more goals than Wolves (11) so far this season.
Team News
Dan Potts (ankle), Jordan Clark (ankle), and Gabriel Osho (knee) were their three known absences, but Luton also had to play without Ross Barkley against Fulham because of a hamstring injury the former Chelsea player sustained over the international break. Barkley’s problem, though, is not a major one, and Edwards, who has no new worries to report following the loss to Fulham, could welcome the playmaker back for the Wolves’ visit. Albert Sambi Lokonga, who joined the team on loan from Arsenal, should once again hold down the fort in midfield alongside Marvelous Nakamba, while Elijah Adebayo is expecting a comeback in attack over Jacob Brown.
Lemina appears not to have suffered anything serious either. As a result, O’Neil might have a full roster at his disposal. The Wolves manager will undoubtedly give Jean-Ricner Bellegarde another chance to start after he led his new team in the first half of last weekend’s game. Although Wolves’ most recent visit to Kenilworth Road ten years ago was a terrible one, O’Neil’s team has thus far this season shown plenty of cunning on the attacking front, albeit with a touch of wastefulness as well. In either case, the visitors should have no trouble creating plenty of opportunities against a weak Luton defense, and the Hatters will undoubtedly suffer their fifth straight defeat this weekend.
Luton Town 0 – 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
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