Luton Town vs Nottingham Forest: Betting Odds & Prediction

(Featured image: Alamy Images)

Written by: Robbie Sewell

Luton Town welcome Nottingham Forest to Kenilworth Road on Saturday in a crucial match in the Premier League relegation battle.

The two sides are separated by three points as they sit 18th and 17th after 28 games. A win by two clear goals for the Hatters would see them leapfrog their weekend opponents.

Kick-off is set for 3pm local time. 

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Luton Town

Luton boss Rob Edward’s is remaining focused and positive over his team's survival chances, despite his side's poor run of results. Their last league win was all the way back in January in a 4-0 demolition of Brighton at Kenilworth Road. Since then, Luton are winless in their last seven league matches.

They are likely to be hurting after their 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth in midweek where they threw away a three goal advantage. In the ultimate game of two halves, Luton established a handsome lead thanks to first half goals from Tahith Chong, Chiedozie Ogbene and Ross Barkley, before the Cherries roared back in the second period.

Eleven of Luton’s 21 points have been picked up in front of their home fans this season, including impressive wins against Newcastle and Crystal Palace. While points have been relatively difficult to come by for Luton, they have tended to score plenty of goals this season, averaging 1.46 goals per game.

There is never a dull moment watching the Hatters, with matches involving Luton having averaged 3.44 goals per game. They have the third worst defensive record in the division, having only managed two clean sheets all campaign.

Nottingham Forest

Forest’s precarious league placing hasn’t been helped by three straight league defeats of late. Defeats away at Aston Villa and Brighton either side of a controversial late home loss to Liverpool have mounted the pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo and his men.

Last week's 1-0 defeat at the AMEX stadium against Brighton was an all too familiar frustrating away trip for Forest, who were unable to find the necessary potency in front of goal on another afternoon that left Nuno lamenting the performance of the officials. Their relegation six-pointer at Kenilworth Road this weekend could go a long way to determining their Premier League future.

The majority of Forest’s Premier League points this season have been accumulated at the City Ground, with their only two away wins coming at Chelsea and Newcastle. 15 of their 24 points have been won at home, with points on the road appearing harder to come by for the Reds. Forest are the fourth lowest scorers in the league, having scored 34 goals thus far, 15 of which have come away from home. 

They have also struggled to keep clean sheets, managing just four all season which has contributed to an average of 1.8 goals conceded per match. 

Forest can take major encouragement from the fact that Luton have tended to struggle in their previous home matches against teams in and around them in the table. Home defeats to Sheffield United and Burnley could yet prove to be very costly for Rob Edwards.

Prediction

Considering what is at stake for both clubs, the match has a distinct feeling of must not lose, especially for Luton, currently three points adrift of safety. Wednesday’s implosion at Bournemouth may well have forced Rob Edward’s hand to go all out for three vital points on Saturday.

At the very least, Nuno will want to maintain the three point buffer between themselves and Luton come the final whistle.

Neither team are known for their defensive exploits, so OddsNow expect there to be goals at either end in this vital match.

OddsNow's Pick: Draw with BTTS (10/3 @ SkyBet)

 

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