Luton Town vs Aston Villa: Preview, Betting Odds & Prediction

(Featured image: Alamy Images)

Written by: Luke O'Callaghan

Struggling Luton Town host Champions League-chasing Aston Villa at Kenilworth Road on Saturday evening. The match could have significant implications at both ends of the table as we enter the final stretch of the Premier League.

How to Watch Luton Town vs Aston Villa:

The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports with coverage set to begin at 5pm on Saturday. Kick-off takes place at 5:30pm. 

Team News:

Luton will be without Marvelous Nakamba (knee), Elijah Adebayo (thigh), Jacob Brown (knee), Sambi Lakonga (thigh), Amari'i Bell and Dan Potts (both undisclosed). Mads Andersen is also ruled out.

Long-term knee injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia continue to rule them out for Villa. Diego Carlos (thigh) and Ezri Konsa (knee) also won't feature. Central defender Pau Torres is being assessed but is also unlikely to feature.

Recent Form:

Luton must bounce back from Tuesday night's 6-2 home drubbing against Manchester City in the FA Cup. Rob Edwards' side also lost heavy in their last league outing, a 4-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield after taking an early lead. 

The Hatters have however proved a difficult obstacle to move at Kenilworth Road this season. Narrow losses to Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester City and a 1-1 draw versus Liverpool give Luton fans hope at salvaging a result against an in-form Villa this weekend. 

This week’s news that Everton’s initial ten-point deduction has been reduced to six has however increased the gap to safety. Luton currently sit in 18th and are now 4 points adrift of Nottingham Forest in 17th.

An in-form Ross Barkley and a midweek brace from Jordan Clark will no doubt garner hope for the Hatters however as they retain hopes of a second successive season in the top flight.

Back-to-back league wins have put Villa back on track to secure a Champions League spot  after top four rivals Manchester United and Tottenham lost unexpectedly at home last week. Villa looked as though they were running out of gas after 3 defeats to Manchester United (twice) and Newcastle United around the turn of the year. 

Unai Emery has got the villains back to their scintillating best since as they put four past Nottingham Forest last weekend. Main striker Ollie Watkins was also back amongst the goals as he netted his 14th of the season. 

A win for the Villains could see them move eight points clear of Tottenham in fifth depending on the latter's result at home to Crystal Palace earlier in the day.

Betting Odds:

Striker Watkins stands among the league's highest scorers heading into the Luton match. A return to the scoresheet for the Englishman makes it hard to look past him bagging another this weekend. LiveScoreBet have the 28-year-old at 6/5 to score anytime at Kenilworth Road with an implied probability of 45.45%.

Leon Bailey also impressed during a difficult run of form for the Midlanders and enters at 23/10 (30.3% implied) with BetUK to build on his eight goal return this season. 

Luton midfielder Ross Barkley received his fourth yellow card of the season so far at Anfield last week. The boystrous Aston Villa midfield duo of John McGinn and Douglas Luiz could make for another frustrating night for the Englishman, who comes in at 6/1 to be carded anytime by Bet365 (14.29% implied probability).

Prediction:

It was a comfortable 3-1 win to Aston Villa in the reverse fixture in October, and despite Luton’s never die attitude at home and desperation for points, it is difficult to see Unai Emery’s side passing up the opportunity to maintain their pursuit of a top-four finish. 

OddsNow's Pick: Luton Town 2-3 Aston Villa with Ollie Watkins to score anytime (44.15/1 @ William Hill)

 

Previous Next