PREVIEW: Luton Town vs Sunderland - Can Sunderland capitalise on Luton's lack of consistency?

All you need to know ahead of Sunderland's trip to Luton

IMAGO / PA Images

After a win on the road on Sunday, Sunderland will be hoping to extend their stay at the top of the table as they travel down to Hertfordshire to take on Luton Town.

Team News

Niall Huggins looks to be out until the new year, which means Trai Hume's place in the squad is almost a guarantee until then.

All the other players out of action remain the same, and is Mayenda still doubtful.

Dan Ballard is now fit again, but with the recent performances of Mepham and O'Nien, it could be difficult to get back in the squad straight away.

The Opposition

I think it's safe to say Luton Town's season hasn't got off to the best of starts. Many had predicted them to be in the play-off race to head back up to the Premier League after their one season stay last campaign.

Until the weekend, Luton had only won two games all season and had struggled to find their feet on their Championship return. Saturday saw the Hatters beat local rivals Watford 3-0 at Home giving them a much needed confidence boost ahead of another tough test.

The Gaffer

Rob Edwards was appointed as the new head coach of Luton Town in November 2022 coming in to replace Nathan Jones, who went to join Southampton.

This was Edward's third managerial job in six months. He left Forest Green Rovers in the summer of 2022 to join Championship side Watford, not long after guiding Forest Green to the League Two title.

IMAGO / PA Images

After 11 games, three wins, five draws and three defeats, the Watford board made the decision to sack the Welshman. Edwards then went on to help Luton Town earn their first promotion to the Premier League after being in the National League just 10 seasons before.

Luton grabbed some memorable victories over the course of last season, a 2-1 win away at Everton and 4-0 thrashing of Brighton at home and a 1-0 win over Newcastle.

The Squad

Danish centre-back Mads Andersen looks set to remain on the side lines and their defensive options look to have been weakened further with Teden Mengi picking up a knock in Saturday's victory over Watford.

IMAGO / PPAUK

Tom Holmes also looks to be in doubt for tomorrow nights match, which means Japanese defender Daiki Hashioka could come in to replace him.

Previous Meeting

It's almost a year and a half since these two sides last met and the occasion was a lot more memorable for one side than the other.

Sunderland came into the second leg of the EFL Championship Play-off semi-final with a 2-1 lead over Luton but the potters areal threat came to their advantage in this game.

Sunderland had two penalty appeals turned away in the first 12 minutes of the game after Amad Diallo was believed to have run into Marvelous Nakamba before falling to the ground and Amari Bell's hand ball appeals were waved away.

In the middle of all that, Sunderland went behind after Gabriel Osho turned the ball into the net after picking up the scraps at a corner.

Luton piled the pressure on Sunderland. Carlton Morris saw his header blocked by Trai Hume but that almost went in for an own goal off Pierre Ekwah thankfully O'Nien was there to clear the ball away.

Morris went close again, but it was captain Tom Lockyer who found the net. The Welshman heading home from an Alfie Doughty cross.

Stat Pack

As per the EFL Website:

Luton are unbeaten in their last four home games against Sunderland in all competitions (W2 D2) since a 5-0 defeat on the final day of the 2006-07 season.

The last four regular league meetings between Luton and Sunderland have all ended as a 1-1 draw.

Luton haven’t lost any of their last seven midweek league games in the Championship since a 2-0 away defeat to Stoke in November 2022 (W3 D4).

Sunderland are unbeaten in four of their last six Championship games in midweek (W3 D1 L2), keeping a clean sheet on all four occasions they’ve avoided defeat.

Luton’s Alfie Doughty has been involved in goals in both league appearances for the Hatters against Sunderland, assisting in October 2022 and scoring in March 2023

Referee

Tomorrow's referee is Tom Neild

Neild has only refereed Sunderland on a previous three occasions with the Black Cats winning one, drawing one and losing one.

Predicted Line up: Patterson, Hume, Mepham, O'Nien, Cirkin, Rigg, Neil, Bellingham, Mundle, Isidor, Roberts