Luton Town v Huddersfield Town – Match Preview

Tonight, is the night with the Hatters set to commence their bid to gate-crash the Premier League via the play-offs.

I’m sure, like me, you are feeling a mixture of intrepidation and excitement, the butterflies are fluttering as the human body mixes up its feelings.

Our opponents tonight, Huddersfield Town, are probably in the same boat as us, with neither club, at the start of the season, expected to be in this position.

There really is all to go for as both clubs seek the ultimate prize, a chance to play at Wembley for a chance to grab one of the richest prizes in football, a place in the top-flight of English football.

But how do we, here at Vital Luton Town see this epic semi-final going?

Well, with the second leg to follow, on Monday evening, there’s no doubt that the Hatters, playing at home in the first leg, need to get a result, but getting that result is dependent on so many things.

Kenilworth Road will be packed to the rafters creating its own unique atmosphere, we’re expecting it to be the noisiest night of the season and you can be sure the support will be doing their best to push their team over the line.

But, on the pitch, it is all a bit of the unknown, Nathan Jones, in the last few weeks, has had to juggle his squad with a lengthy injury list to deal with.

I’m hoping, and have been since the 1-0 win over Reading secured this opportunity, that the spine of the Hatters side includes the following – James Bree, Sonny Bradley, Allan Campbell and Elijah Adebyao, if those four play I’m confident that Luton will get the first leg win they require, 3-0 (as some have suggested) would be ideal but I’d be ecstatic with a 2-0 win, giving us a more than fighting chance of going to Yorkshire and coming home win an aggregate win.

Of course, we should never underestimate Huddersfield, they finished third in the table and ended the season on a remarkable run of results.

Also, throw into the mixer, we failed to score against Huddersfield in either of the two Championship fixtures, our poor record in the play-offs and the fact it is live on Sky Sports, you can see the enormity of the tasks that awaits us.

This season, as has been reported several times, we’re also at the mercy of the officials, with the Hatters getting a raw deal on several occasions, hopefully, those selected:

Referee – Robert Jones
Assistant Referee – Ian Hussin
Assistant Referee – Wade Smith
Fourth Official – Simon Hooper

have an immaculate night, performance wise.

As an aside, both sides were given the opportunity for VAR to be in use for the play-offs but both politely refused, the only sensible decision in my opinion, why change the rules you’ve been abiding to all season?

In finishing this article, I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and predict a 2-0 win, but how do you see this game ending?

Please feel free to have your say in the comment facility beneath this article.

COYH’s

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Luton – Four Out Of Six Wasn’t Too Bad