Luton Town return to Kenilworth Road as we host QPR in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Rob Edwards’ side have had a tricky start to the 2024/25 campaign after losing two of the opening three matches.
It will be a rematch of the midweek Carabao Cup tie with QPR, which the Hatters will look for revenge after narrowly missing out on penalties.
There will be a pre-match moment of applause in memory of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who passed away earlier this week.
Words from the boss
“They’ll obviously make some changes, they will bring a couple of players in that were on the bench the other day or didn’t play.
“They will look like a different team, it was good just to joust a little bit on Tuesday and we’ll see them for real tomorrow night.”
“Once we get that winning feeling, hopefully, that will remain and once the goals start coming, they will remain then we will have lift-off.”
The opposition
The Rs are sat four places above the Town in 19th with an equally difficult start to the Championship campaign under manager Marti Cifuentes.
Draws against Plymouth and Sheffield United in their previous two league outings with a loss on opening day to West Brom leaves the visitors on two points from nine.
The Town will need to watch out for Karamoko Dembélé who came on as a substitute on Tuesday night, one of many attacking options for the Rs.
Team news
Teden Mengi and Mark McGuinness are expected to be involved in the matchday squad on Friday night.
Midfielder Marvelous Nakamba won’t be rushed straight back into the starting side according to Edwards, after playing 45 minutes at Loftus Road on Tuesday.
Tim Krul, Daiki Hashioka, Tom Krauß and Jacob Brown are all unavailable for this fixture.
Last time we met
The two sides met earlier this week in the Carabao Cup at Loftus Road, with the home side coming out on top on penalties.
An early goal from Hevertton Santos put the hosts ahead before a rocket volley from Zack Nelson drew the Hatters level.
The Town could not win it in regular time and were beaten 4-1 on penalties to send the Rs to the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Officials
Robert Madley will be the man in the middle at Kenilworth Road on referee on Friday night.
It is the first time Madley has refereed one of our fixtures since October 2022.
Referee: Robert Madley
Assistant referees: Blake Antrobus & Darren Williams
Fourth Official: James Bell
Love Football. Protect The Game.
Luton Town Football Club has committed in its customer charter to providing safe matchday experiences for all supporters regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, and this applies equally to home and away fixtures.
In the event that any Luton supporters do make discriminatory chants, the Club will work with the police and football authorities to help identify such individuals. Any such fans would then face the strictest club sanctions, including football banning orders that would prevent them attending any matches, in addition to any criminal charges.
The Club can also be held responsible for the behaviour of its supporters, which could lead to substantial fines being imposed.
As a diverse and inclusive football club, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellow EFL clubs in supporting the FA’s ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ campaign and call on all fans to enjoy the game in a positive spirit.
If you are offended by any discriminatory abuse of any kind at any of our games, you can report it by clicking here, or by contacting your nearest steward immediately. Alternatively, email myvoice@lutontown.co.uk or report the incident via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
