Luton Town vs Bradford Predictions

Luton’s push to establish themselves as one of the serious promotion contenders in League One has really started to gather momentum in recent weeks. Nathan Jones’ men are now unbeaten in six league games, five of which they’ve won, while they’ve won each of their last four at home, so confidence is unlikely to be a problem for the Hatters when they welcome Bradford to Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening.

It’s very tough to criticise Luton’s efforts over the last month or so, as they’ve continued to pick up the desired results. However, if we scratch beneath the surface, then it’s easy to pick a few holes in the Hatters from a performance point of view. Against Gillingham on Saturday, Jones’ men did continue to flex their muscles by scoring three goals, but on the overall balance of play, their 3-1 victory wasn’t exactly merited, as the fact that they emerged with an expected goal difference of -0.09 suggests.

At home, Luton have rarely been outplayed, while they’ve made a habit of imposing themselves in the final third. Not only are the Hatters unbeaten at Kenilworth Road, but they’ve scored an impressive 23 goals, while they’re averaging a very impressive 2.04 expected foals for. Ahead of a match against a Bradford team that haven’t exactly thrived on the road, such numbers bode well.

Bradford have struggled this season, though it would be wrong to say that performances haven’t improved in recent weeks, because the Bantams have certainly started to better. They played well against both Portsmouth and Peterborough, while much of the same can be said for their victory over Oxford last time out. However, playing well away against one of the best home teams in the division may not suffice.

If the Bantams, who recently did enough when scoring away against both Accrington and Peterborough to suggest that they’ve got what it takes to get competitive offensively against the better teams, look to get on the front foot, as they have done at times on the road, then they could easily get a Luton side that will leave themselves exposed. Though if their previous away-day showings are anything to go by, then it’s tough to believe that the visitors have the defensive credentials to get a positive result on Tuesday.

There won’t be many people going against the hosts on Tuesday, though they’re not a team to side with at the prices. Instead, the bet to be on is ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’. Against a Bradford side that has given up a whopping 2.4 expected goals on average when playing away from home, the Hatters should thrive offensively, but they’ve not been overly sharp at the back of late, while Bradford are certainly improving offensively, as recent performances have shown.