Spooky Express previews Saturday's Premier League match between Luton Town and Aston Villa, including betting picks, team news and possible starting lineups.Luton Town turn their attention back to the Premier League relegation battle when they face top-four hopefuls Aston Villa at Kenilworth Road.Unai Emery's side claimed a 3-1 win over Luton Town at Villa Park in October, with goals from John McGinn, Moussa Diaby and an own goal from Luton captain Tom Lockyer.
The Hatters return to Premier League action at Kenilworth Road on Saturday night when they host Aston Villa. Rob Edwards’ side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City in midweek, with the focus now firmly on Premier League survival.With back-to-back away games to come against Crystal Palace and then Bournemouth, Luton Town will be eager to end their five-game winless run. The Hatters suffered a heavy 6-2 home loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday night - their fourth in a row in all competitions. Three of those losses have come at Kenilworth Road.Rob Edwards' side were simply outclassed and they were unable to stop the dynamic partnership between Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, with the former netting five goals and De Bruyne contributing four assists to the Norwegian striker. Luton Town were on the ropes from the very beginning and their manager Rob Edwards watched on helplessly as De Bruyne, Haaland, and co tore his side to shreds. He just didn't have the performers to be competitive against a rampant Manchester City side - but let's face it - how many teams in the world can actually challenge last season's treble-winners on their day? With nine goals in 23 Premier League appearances, Elijah Adebayo has been Luton Town's top scorer but the 26-year-old forward missed the last two league matches against Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as the FA Cup defeat against Manchester City. Luton Town's beatdown at the hands of defending champions Manchester City was a particularly painful experience for Jamaican defender Amari'i Bell, who was withdrawn injured towards the end of the first half with a slight hamstring issue. While the Jamaica international will need assessing, he will be given as much time as possible to recover. Moreover, Bell's replacement on the night, Joe Johnson, will not be in contention as the teenager has been ill for the past couple of days without training.Captain Tom Lockyer, Dan Potts, Mads Andersen, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Jacob Brown, Marvelous Nakamba and Elijah Adebayo are all unavailable for Rob Edwards, who handed winter signing Daiki Hashioka his first-team debut on Tuesday night.To make things even worse, Gabriel Osho has been ruled out with a muscular problem. As their absentee list grows, Man City loanee Issa Kabore will at least return after being ineligible to feature against his parent club.
The Birmingham outfit have strengthened their place in the top four with back-to-back wins over Fulham and Nottingham Forest following their home defeat to Manchester United a couple of weeks ago.They are now bidding to win three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since December as Unai Emery's men travel to Luton on the back of a 4-2 home win over Nottingham Forest last weekend. Aston Villa will travel to face Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League last-16 on Thursday, but the Villans are now aiming to boost their Premier League top-four hopes at Luton. With their wins at Sheffield United and Fulham in recent weeks, Villa have won back-to-back Premier League away games for the first time in 2023-24 and they're now eager to make it three in a row for the first time since last January. Unai Emery's men conceded for the fourth game running, though, but they might finally welcome back some of their key defenders.Ezri Konsa is closer to making a full return, but fellow defenders Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos remain sidelined, while Pau Torres is a doubt. Torres and Konsa should both be in the matchday squad for the weekend, but the Aston Villa boss could not say for certainty whether the pair would be fit to start.Elsewhere, influential midfielder Boubacar Kamara is also ruled out for the Villans as he joins Emiliano Buendia and Jhon Duran on the sidelines.
We believe that the extensive number of injured players will definitely harm Luton Town's game plan for the weekend. And perhaps for the remainder of the campaign, if more of their aces are out for a longer period. Remarkably, Luton Town have scored in each of their last nine matches in all competitions - since a 0-0 home draw with Bolton in the FA Cup on 7 January - while they have also scored in 13 straight Premier League matches. They last failed to score in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford just before the November international break. Aston VIlla, on the other hand, are not the strongest away team in the league but they surely have the quality to outscore Luton Town on Saturday. They have lost just one of their last seven league games away from Villa Park (4-2-1). With 14 goals and 10 assists, no player has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has had a hand in as many Premier League goals as the Aston VIlla forward in 2023-24. The 28-year-old England international has scored once and assisted four goals in his last two matches against promoted sides. Watkins had scored once and assisted twice in the 5-0 win at Sheffield United one month ago, while he also added two more assists in the 3-2 home victory over Burnley on 30 December.
