Luton Town vs Portsmouth Predictions

Luton’s march towards the top of League One continued on Saturday afternoon, as they overcame Southend by a goal to nil away from home. With that confidence-boosting win under their belts, the Hatters will be hoping to get the better of Portsmouth, who now find themselves sat in second position.

It would’ve been easy for things to fall apart when Nathan Jones decided to abandon his Luton project and take over at Stoke, but the Hatters have got on with the job and, under the temporary stewardship of Mick Harford, have continued to push hard for promotion. Their recent thrashing of Peterborough and their solid win away against Southend last time out shows that they’re in the automatic promotion race for the long haul.

In truth, it’s very hard to criticise anything that Luton have done on home soil this season. As things stand, the Hatters have the best home record in the division, they’ve scored more home goals than any other team, while they remain without defeat at Kenilworth Road. Having scored an average of 2.5 goals and having conceded an average of just 0.64, Tuesday’s hosts really have impressed. Their attacking performances suggest that they can get at Pompey, while their defensive efforts also bode well.

However, while the Hatters, who’ve now kept five clean sheets on the bounce at Kenilworth Road, have kept things tight at home, it’s tough to discount Pompey. The visitors were knocked off their lofty perch this weekend, though that was mainly because they were engaged in the FA Cup and thus didn’t get the chance to defend themselves. Moreover, with players like the electric Jamal Lowe in their forward-line, they ought to enjoy playing on the break against an attacking Luton side.

Portsmouth’s recent defensive efforts on the road haven’t been great; they conceded twice against Oxford, twice against Fleetwood and twice against Gillingham, but they’ve got the tools to compete offensively, which is why they’re League One’s third highest scorers on the road. An average of 1.64 goals away from home tells us that they can cause teams plenty of problems, as does the fact that they have the best away record (in terms of points accumulated) in the division.

Luton are probably the more forceful side in terms of getting forward, but Portsmouth are no slouches in that respect, so it would be no surprise whatsoever if the goals flowed at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night. After all, we’re talking about two teams that have scored 58 goals between them in their respective home and away matches.

In the betting, ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ catches the eye. Both Luton and Portsmouth rank in the top three when it comes to expected goals for, while they also rank very positively in terms of shots on target for. Add in the fact that both will be intent on going for the three points and it’s easy to feel that the current price available on ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ is a tad generous.