By Daniel Wood –
Luton Town will host Huddersfield Town in the SkyBet Championship at Kenilworth Road on Saturday 6th February 2021; 3 pm KO.
Huddersfield Town
The Terriers currently sit 15th in the Championship. They are 10 points behind the playoff places and only six points ahead of the relegation zone.
Huddersfield are winless in their last six games in all competitions, losing five and drawing one.
They picked up their first points of the calendar year in their last game as they drew 1-1 with Stoke City.
Their last victory came on the 29th December against Blackburn Rovers (2-1).
The way this adds up means the Terriers have the 2nd worst away record in the league this season, having only won two of their 13 away trips.
Carlos Corberan’s men are a scant two places and just one point behind their hosts at the weekend and a victory would propel them above the Hatters.
Team News & Injuries
Huddersfield Town remain very injury stuck despite having three players return from injury against Millwall.
Their injury list currently includes:
- Adama Diakhaby (Achilles)
- Rarmani Edmonds-Green (hip)
- Carel Eiting (knee)
- Tommy Elphick (knee)
- Danny Grant (hamstring)
- Jonathan Hogg (hip)
- Josh Koroma (hamstring)
- Christopher Schindler (knee)
- Richard Stearman (hamstring)
With a lot of key players on the side-lines with long-term ailments, it has proved to be a challenging start to the year so far for the Terriers.
Luton Town
Luton Town currently sit 13th in the Championship. They are nine points behind the top six and seven points ahead of the relegation zone.
In their last five games, they have picked up six points out of a possible 15, securing two wins and suffering three defeats in that time.
In their last game, the Hatters lost 1-0 away to Blackburn Rovers thanks to a late goal from Adam Armstrong.
Their home form has been average this season as they have the 14th best home record in the league having won 5 out of a possible 12.
Their manager, Nathan Jones, has overseen the club since May 2020. This is his second stint as manager after he left the club in January 2019 to manage Stoke City.
His win percentage so far this second go-round is 40%. While not as good as his first period as Luton Town boss, it is much better than his overall Stoke City win-rate which was a measly 15.8% after 38 games.
The biggest achievement Jones has had as manager came in the 2018-19 season when he finished second in League One, bringing Luton Town to the Championship.
During his playing career, he played for a number of Welsh and English clubs with most of his appearances coming for Yeovil Town from 2005 to 2012.
Ones to Watch
James Collins
The Irishman has scored nine goals in all competitions for the Hatters this season with six of them coming in the SkyBet Championship. he’s been an ever-present this season and is keeping his place in the Republic of Ireland squad, as he has earned six caps for his country. He has made over 160 appearances for Luton Town since his arrival and has been a huge part of the club’s growth from League Two to Championship status.
Sonny Bradley
The centre back has been a key part of Luton’s solid defence that has been them only concede 28 goals so far this season. He has played almost every minute for the Hatters this campaign and is well known for his enforcing of the backline and ariel threat from set-pieces. He scored last season against the Terriers in his team’s 2-0 win at the John Smiths Stadium.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
The Leicester City loanee has settled into life as a Luton Town player with ease. He has multiple man of the matches to his name already and has won back-to-back player of the month awards for the Hatters this season. The box-to-box midfielder has scored two goals and provided three assists so far this season.
Predictions
Luton Town lead the head to head record between the two clubs. Since their first meeting in 1952, Huddersfield Town have won on nine occasions, there have been four draws and Luton Town have won 12 times.
The Terriers have not beaten the Hatters since May 2008. The sides have met three times since then and Luton have won on two occasions with the last meeting between the two ending in a 1-1 draw at the John Smiths Stadium.
Both sides are having similar seasons and they flounder in the middle of the table. Just one point separates them and a win for either side would see them ahead of the other.
Huddersfield have not won a game in 2021 and will be desperate to gain a result against Luton, however, having won only two away games out of 13 in the league it will likely be a difficult task.
The two teams have a similar quality about them, and it will be interesting to see if either side change up their formula to throw the other team off.
However, with so many key players missing for Huddersfield Town I feel as though it will end up being another unwanted result for them as they continue to search for their first win of the calendar year.
My colleague Nathan remains the positive, however, and believes with a bit of grit and determination, Huddersfield can see this one through and finally bag a win.
My prediction:
Luton Town 1-1 Huddersfield Town
Nathan’s prediction
Luton Town 0-1 Huddersfield Town
What do you think the final result will be? Let us know in the comments below.