It’s been 13 long years since Peterborough United welcomed Luton Town for a home League match. The Posh ground has changed it’s name from London Road to the ABAX Stadium with the newest stand being given over to the visiting supporters on Saturday.
The Hatters are expecting at least 2,000 fans to make the relatively short trip from Bedfordshire and they will be hoping to bring back all three points with them, which will be the first time this season if they do pick up maximum points.
Posh boss Steve Evans has said that his side had a tough opening to the season with games against Bristol Rovers and Rochdale but that is nothing compared to the Hatters. They faced a daunting trip to Fratton Park on the opening day of the season which ended in a one-nil defeat. They then followed that up by hosting the favourites for the League One title, Sunderland! It looked ominous for the Hatters when the Black Cats opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time but a spirited second-half saw them equalise with their only shot on target!
Luton were pipped to the post for the League Two title last season by Accrington Stanley as they eventually finished second, 5 points behind Stanley. During the pre-season, they’ve seen seven players leave Kenilworth Road, one of which was on loan, with four players arriving at the club:
- Andrew Shinnie (Birmingham City) – Free
- Sonny Bradley (Plymouth Argyle) – Free
- Matty Pearson (Barnsley) – Undisclosed
- Jorge Grant (Nottingham Forest) – Loan
Those new signings have certainly brought experience to the Hatters side but they need to step it up another level if they are to survive. Fighting back from a goal down to the Black Cats may be the start of their climb up the table as they adapt to life in League One.
Recent Results
West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Luton Town – Carabao Cup
Luton Town 1-1 Sunderland – League One
Portsmouth 1-0 Luton Town – League One
Head To Head
There have been 22 matches between the two clubs; two League Cup matches, one FA Cup, one Associate Members Cup and 18 League matches.
Of the 9 home League matches, Posh have won just once! That came 54 years ago in the 1964/1965 season when Posh won two-nil. Ollie Conmy and Derek Dougan were the scorers in that Third Division clash.
Luton have won three of those nine League matches at London Road with five ending in a draw including the last time the sides met in League action. Just over 3,500 Hatters fans turned up for the League One clash which saw a goalless first half. Both sides traded four goals with the Hatters taking the lead through Kevin Nicholls in the 54th minute. Calum Willock levelled things 19 minutes later and then scored again nine minutes after that. Sadly for Posh, they couldn’t hang to the lead as the Hatters hit back just three minutes later to earn a share of the points against Barry Fry’s side.
Posh have been more successful in those Cup competitions winning two and drawing the other two matches including the last time the sides met three seasons ago.
Last Time Out
The last time these teams met was in the FA Cup in the 2015/2016 season. The second round clash saw the Hatters arrive at the ABAX Stadium with a splattering of ex-Posh players including the likes of Mark Tyler [pictured below], Craig Mackail-Smith, Josh McQuoid, and Scott Griffiths while one-time trialist Paddy McCourt was also in the starting line-up.
Posh boss Graham Westley saw his side score a goal in each half with Conor Washington [pictured above] opening the scoring after 35 minutes before Marcus Maddison doubled the advantage eight minutes from time.
Posh went on to beat Preston North End in the third round before a mammoth fourth-round clash at the Hawthorns saw Posh twice come from behind to earn a two-all draw. Former Posh loanee Saido Berahino scored both goals for West Brom but Shaq Coulthirst and Jon Taylor earned a deserved draw for Posh.
The replay was played in front of the Sky TV cameras and was a very entertaining match which Posh should’ve won. They dominated their visitors and finally found the back of the net in the 55th minute through Jon Taylor. Sadly, Darren Fletcher took the tie to penalties with the equaliser with the visitors coming out 4-3 victors.
Prediction
Posh will obviously want to continue their 100% winning run in the League and put their disappointing performance in midweek at QPR behind them but this should be the toughest task yet in the League this season.
The Hatters will want to register their first maximum of the season and send their hoards of fans home happy but we can see very little between the two sides.
Posh have been very strong defensively but they could’ve conceded more goals than they have if they were up against someone better in front of goal! Do the Hatters have that sort of player? Surely they must do seeing as they sold us Jack Marriott last season, who was their third or fourth choice forward!
At the start of the season we were wondering where the goals would come from but with six goals in two matches, they certainly stuck two-fingers up at us for thinking that! Can Posh continue that scoring streak against the Hatters on Saturday?
It’ll be a close match with just one goal in it but will either side claim victory or will it end in a draw?
Although we’d love to predict a Posh victory, we feel this match could end up goalless!
