Luton Town vs Accrington Stanley Predictions

Barring a defeat away against Barnsley, Luton have been in excellent form of late. Nathan Jones’ men have now won four of their last five in all competitions, while they’ve tasted defeat just once in their last eight. Such form should mean that they come into this home match feeling confident, even if they are playing an Accrington side that continues to keep pace with the best in this division.

Luton’s home form improved even further at the weekend and it’s now seven games unbeaten at Kenilworth Road for Nathan Jones’ side. Their overall performance since stepping up from League Two has been impressive, but most of their best work has been carried out on home soil.

On their own patch, Luton have won five and drawn two, which means that they’ve accumulated more points at home than any other team in League One – impressive. From a forward point of view, they’re scoring plenty of goals, netting fourteen in total, while they’re doing more than enough at the other end to ensure that their attacking efforts don’t go to waste. On average, the Hatters have managed 1.81 expected goals for at home, while they’ve conceded an average of 1.17.

Accrington cannot boast such impressive figures on their travels, but they’re another newly promoted side that has taken the step up in their stride. John Coleman’s men are currently in a lofty 4^th position, four points ahead of Tuesday’s hosts. In addition, they have the fifth best away record in the division having won four, drawn two and lost just once on the road.

Stanley have impressed in most areas, but they’ve looked particularly good going forward when playing away from the comforts of home, as their expected goals for average of 1.48 suggests. There’s plenty of teams in this league who’ve got a worse average at home, so Accrington’s attacking efforts must be applauded. However, for all they’ve looked good going forward and have generally picked up results, they’ve been lucky at the back on more than one occasion.

For all they’ve conceded a respectable six goals in seven away games, the fact that they’re averaging 1.79 goals against suggests that they’ve been fortunate not to concede a few more. Unless they sharpen up, an unforgiving Luton side could be the team to punish them.

Accrington are strong, make no mistake about it, though Luton’s home form this season is tough to ignore. Compared to Stanley on their travels, at Kenilworth Road, the hosts are creating that little bit more and giving that little bit less away, which does make them hard to oppose, though backing them to simply come out on top doesn’t suffice. Instead, ‘Luton to Win & Both Teams to Score’ appeals. The visitors have the quality to trouble the hosts, but their defensive frailties on the road are expected to cost them against a home team who come here off the back of a commanding attacking performance at the weekend.