Luton Town In The Play-Offs: Key Stats & Insights

At the start of the season, nobody knew what to expect of Luton Town, following their impressive 2021/22 campaign that saw the Hatters finish as beaten Championship play-off semi-finalists to Huddersfield Town.

However, this season has been another superb effort from the Kenilworth Road club, seeing them finish third in the Championship, despite being forced into a managerial change partway through the season, as Nathan Jones left the club to join Southampton, forcing Luton to act promptly in appointing Rob Edwards.

Jones had done a lot at Luton, earning them promotion from League Two in 2017/18, before leaving them in second place in League One during the 2018/19 season for Stoke, effectively setting them up for promotion to the second tier.

The Welshman dramatically returned to the club and saved them from relegation during the latter stages of the 2019/20 season and departed the club in ninth place this season after a 2-0 loss to Stoke on 8th November in order to join Premier League outfit, Southampton.

On the other hand, Rob Edwards came into the 2022/23 season as Watford's coach, having been poached from Forest Green after earning them promotion from League Two in the 2021/22 campaign

Edwards was sacked by Luton’s local rivals after just 11 matches, having won three and drawn five games, equating to a 27% win percentage, a decision that was perhaps made in hasty fashion in hindsight.

Since then, the 40-year-old has never looked back, having won 15 and drawn ten of his 29 matches in charge of the Kenilworth Road club, taking them from tenth in the standings up to third, while entering the play-offs with just one loss in his last 20 matches in charge, winning 11 of these games.

Due to their third-place finish, Luton will face sixth in the table Sunderland, following the Black Cats' 3-0 win over Preston North End on the final day of the season. The Wearside club received a helping hand from Blackburn Rovers on Monday, as the Ewood Park club beat Millwall 4-3 to knock the Lions out of the play-off places, having trailed 3-1 at half time.

The Hatters will face Tony Mowbray’s men both at the Stadium of Light and Kenilworth Road in the two-legged semi-finals. It must be noted, that there are no away goal rules in the play-offs.

13th May 17:30 pm Kick-off - Sunderland vs Luton Town

16th May 20:00 pm Kick-off - Luton Town vs Sunderland

Play-off Final: 27th May - 16:45 pm Kick-off

Luton were priced at 8/1 to be promoted to the Premier League by Betfair, however following their impressive third-place finish, the Hatters are now at 9/4 odds to win the play-offs.

So far this season, there is little to separate Luton Town and Sunderland, with each meeting between the two resulting in 1-1 draws, with Alfie Doughty scoring in the most recent meeting back in March at the Stadium of Light, while Hatters’ top scorer Carlton Morris bagged one of his 20 league goals in the home match.

Edwards’ men also drew both of their matches with Coventry in the Championship during the regular 46-game season, doing so by 2-2 and 1-1 scorelines. On top of this, the 40-year-old’s first league match as Luton manager saw them lose 2-1 to Middlesbrough on 10th December, while their most recent match-up with Michael Carrick’s side saw them beat the Teeside club 2-1 at Kenilworth Road, as Morris and Tom Lockyer both got on the scoresheet.

In terms of formation, Luton tends to play a 3-5-2 formation, something which has provided them with a lot of success along their recent run of form.

Morris managed to finish as the Championship’s third top scorer with a career-best 20 goals and seven assists in 44 matches, with the ex-Norwich City and Barnsley man providing a good focal point of attack.

January signing Marvelous Nakamba, who is on loan from Aston Villa is perhaps their highest-profile player and is seen as a key cog in the system, starting in 16 of the 17 appearances he has made for the club, offering stability alongside the likes of Allan Campbell and Alfie Doughty in the centre of the pitch.

When taking a look at which players have made the most appearances for the club this season, American goalkeeper Ethan Horvath leads the way along with Jamaican defender Amari Bell and striker, Morris, who have all played 44 league matches each. Former Motherwell midfielder Campbell and striker Elijah Adebayo have played 42 times each. The latter is Luton’s second top scorer this campaign with seven league goals and four assists to his name.

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