With the Premier League season a little over a month away, the summer of football betting previews series continues with a spotlight on newly promoted Luton Town. If you missed out on the Sheffield United preview, you can view the article by clicking here. In these previews, I aim to teach a bit about the newly promoted clubs and give actionable betting information if applicable.
Who is Luton Town?
If you’re a long-standing English football fan, you might have heard of Luton Town and everything that this club has gone through over the years. Don’t worry if you’re relatively new and have never heard of them; I plan to fill you in.
Located in Luton Town, Bedfordshire, England, Luton Town FC was established in 1885. Because of their history in the hat-making trade, they have been nicknamed the Hatters. At their home stadium, Kenilworth Road, where they’ve played since 1905, they dawn orange and black as their primary colors.
Their stadium has been the talk of the offseason. It’s a quaint stadium with the away stands next to the residents’ gardens. It’s literally smack dab in the middle of the town. With a capacity of just 10,350 people, it’s small, intimate, and everything great about the English Football Pyramid System (promotion and relegation structure). In a league that has Old Trafford with a capacity of over 74,000 and the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium that holds over 63,000, it’s pretty cool to see Kenilworth Road mixed in.
Kenilworth Road will require a £10 million makeover before the start of the next season to keep up with the minimum Premier League requirements, but either way, this place will be special all season.
After beating Coventry City in the playoff finals, Luton Town became the only team in English football to ever go from the topflight all the way down to the bottom league and out of the football league, then make its way all the way back to the top flight again. Should midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu stay with the team this season, he will be the first player to go from non-league to the Premier League with the same team.
To Stay Up or Not to Stay Up
Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Luton are the favorites to get relegated this season. Their -290 odds are much worse than the lowest odds held by Bournemouth (-160) to get relegated last season. Luton finished third in the English Football Championship last season. They had to work through the playoffs to get promoted. They defeated Sunderland 4-1 on aggregate in the playoff semifinal and beat Coventry City on penalties in the final.
It’s been 31 years since Luton last played in the Premier League, but it’s not impossible to think that Luton can stay up this season. Last season, we saw all three (Bournemouth, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest) newly promoted clubs stay up. Fulham was the more talented of the three, but Bournemouth started the season on fire, and Forest protected their home field better than most.
Last season Luton relied on great defense to earn points and avoid defeat. They only won 21 games but only lost eight times last season (finished with 17 draws). Their 57 goals were only good for eighth-best previous season. They scored 30 fewer goals than Burnley and 16 fewer than Sheffield United.
Unfortunately for Luton, they likely won’t have the money to sign big players this transfer window. They will have to rely on the great defense they played last season and expect to take advantage of their unique homefield. I’d have to side with the sportsbooks and say Luton are the clear favorites to get relegated. Since this is a betting article, I can’t go back-to-back articles without suggesting a bet. I will bet a parlay of Luton Town to be Relegated + Bayern Munich to win the German Bundesliga (-150).
Player to Watch
Carlton Morris - Center Midfielder
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 27: Carlton Morris of Luton Town celebrates to fans after scoring a penalty during the Sky Bet Championship Play Off Final between Coventry City and Luton Town at Wembley Stadium on May 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Visionhaus via Getty Images
Finding one or two players I wanted to highlight in the “Players to Watch” section was challenging. I highlighted Mpanzu’s incredible story, but Luton felt like a team that put together a concerted team effort.
Center-forward team captain Carlton Morris’ 20 goals were the most on the team. He also added another seven assists for the Hatters. It will take a considerable effort from the talented goal-scoring Morris for Luton to score enough to secure safety. He will score next season, and his anytime goal scorer prices will likely be tasty. It will just be a matter of figuring out when those goals are coming for us to make money off him.
