Seeking to move further away from the Premier League relegation zone, Luton Town play host to Crystal Palace at Kenilworth Road on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams meet for the first time in any competition since the 2006-07 Championship season when the home side came out on top by a 2-1 scoreline in both fixtures.
Match preview
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Six days after claiming a hard-fought point in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool, Luton were somewhat unfortunate to come away from Old Trafford empty handed as they suffered a slender 1-0 defeat to an out-of-sorts Manchester United side in their final game before the international break.
A second-half strike from Victor Lindelof was enough to condemn the Hatters to a narrow defeat, and although head coach Rob Edwards believes that his side are competing well in the top flight, he has encouraged his players to pose a greater threat in the final third having only score 10 league goals so far this season; only basement club Burnley (nine) have scored fewer.
After 12 Premier League matches, Luton have picked up six points and are currently hovering just outside of the relegation zone in 17th place after Everton's 10-point deduction for breaching financial rules has seen them plummet into the bottom three.
The Hatters are sure to be targeting points in upcoming fixtures against Crystal Palace, Brentford and Bournemouth over the next four weeks in their bid to climb away from danger, and Saturday's clash with the former represents their best chance, on paper, to open their account at Kenilworth Road considering that Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion are up next on home soil.
Luton have scored in four of their five league matches at home this season, but they have only taken the lead on one of those occasions, so Edwards and co will hope to make a fast start on Saturday against a Palace outfit who have seen defensive frailties creep into their performances in recent weeks.
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Just two victories have been posted by Crystal Palace across their last nine matches in all competitions, and they entered the international break feeling disappointed after losing three of their last four games, conceding nine goals in the process.
The Eagles came away from their most recent fixture against Everton on the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline at Selhurst Park, with the Toffees claiming maximum points thanks to an 86th-minute winner from Idrissa Gueye.
Roy Hodgson's men have slipped down to 13th in the Premier League table, but they have no immediate fears of dropping into the bottom three as 10 points currently separate them front the relegation zone, while they are only five points adrift of the top seven.
Palace head into Saturday's contest having won five of their last 11 Premier League away games since Hodgson's return to the club, as many as in their previous 28 combined on the road; Interestingly, only Man City (six) have won more top-flight away matches that the Eagles since the beginning of April.
Success at Kenilworth Road has been hard to come by for Palace, though, as they have only won one of their last eight league visits to Luton – a narrow 1-0 victory back in April 1994.
Team News
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Luton will be without Issa Kabore after he sustained a head injury on international duty with Burkina Faso, and the defender joins Mads Andersen, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Reece Burke (all thigh), Daniel Potts (ankle), Cauley Woodrow (calf) and Luke Berry (calf) in the treatment room.
Chiedozie Ogbene will have an ankle issue assessed ahead of kickoff, but both Alfie Doughty and Amari'i Bell are fit to feature this weekend after recovering from respective knock and thigh problems.
The absence of Kabore could see Doughty operate on the right flank and Ryan Giles deputise on the left, while Teden Mengi, Tom Lockyer and Gabriel Osho are all set to continue in central defence.
Tahith Chong will battle with Ross Barkley for a start in centre-midfield alongside Marvelous Nakamba, while former Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend could keep his place in the final third along with Carlton Morris, who is looking to end his six-game goal drought this weekend.
As for Palace, Dean Henderson, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Nathan Ferguson all remain in the treatment room with thigh injuries, while Saturday's game may come too soon for James Tomkins who is nursing a calf problem.
Jordan Ayew and Jefferson Lerma did not train on Friday after returning to the club late from international duty and the duo will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
The Eagles were boosted by the returns of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise before the international break, and the attacking duo are in contention to start against Luton; the latter of whom will hope to take the place of Jeffery Schlupp.
Cheick Doucoure is expected to return in centre-midfield at the expense of Will Hughes, while Nathaniel Clyne will continue to compete with Joel Ward for a start at right-back.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Mengi, Lockyer, Osho; Doughty, Nakamba, Barkley, Giles; Townsend, Adebayo; Morris
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Doucoure; Olise, Eze, Ayew; Edouard
We say: Luton Town 0-2 Crystal Palace
Luton will view Saturday's match with Crystal Palace as a real opportunity to claim three valuable points in their quest to avoid the drop, and they have the potential to frustrate the visitors on home soil as they did against Liverpool earlier this month.
However, Palace are virtually at full strength in the attacking department and they should have enough quality in the final third to breach the Hatters' backline en route to securing a hard-fought victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
