Luton Town travel for a crunch relegation six-pointer at Sheffield United on Boxing Day. 

 

The Hatters claimed a 1-0 victory at the Bramall Lane in the sides' most recent meeting in March, when both sides were in the Championship, with Carlton Morris scoring the winner. 

 

Thus, Luton Town ended their six-game winless run against Sheffield United (0-3-3) and are now eager to win back-to-back matches against the Blades for the first time since the 90's, when they won twice in a row between February 1992 and October 1994. 

 

The Blades managed to earn a point on their trip to Birmingham on Friday night when they halted Aston Villa‘s record-breaking 15-game winning streak at home with a 1-1 draw. Thus, Sheffield United became the first Premier League club to take points home from Villa Park since mid-February (18^th) as the rock-bottom side were just minutes away from a sensational victory.

 

Sheffield United endured an awful start to their Premier League campaign, failing to win any of their opening 10 games and losing nine of them. 

 

The Blades will need a Christmas miracle in order to boost their survival hopes as they looked doomed, particularly before Chris Wilder's re-appointment earlier this month. 

 

Chris Wilder, who left the club by mutual consent in March 2021, succeeded Paul Heckingbottom who was sacked following the 5-0 loss away at relegation rivals Burnley.

 

Having the worst attacking and defensive records in the division, Sheffield United will need to overcome their own struggles and the 56-year-old Wilder, recognized as the club's greatest modern-day manager, seems to be the right man for the job. 

 

It was only their second point away from home this season as the Blades remain the only side that is yet to win an away game in the Premier League. 

 

Sheffield United travel to face defending champions Manchester City on December 30 and the upcoming clash against Luton Town represents their best opportunity to win points before they take on West Ham United on 21 January. 

 

Cameron Archer, who celebrated his 22^nd birthday earlier this month, scored his third goal of the season to open the scoring at Villa Park on Friday night. And he did it against his boyhood club. 

 

Chris Wilder could opt for the same system but might also be tempted to make a number of changes by bringing in Jayden Bogle, Gustavo Hamer and James McAtee into the starting XI. 

 

However, the Sheffield United boss remains without the injured captain John Egan, who is joined by the likes of Anel Ahmedhodzic, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Chris Basham, Tom Davies, Rhian Brewster and Daniel Jebbison on the sidelines.

 

Rob Edwards' side earned a monumental win when they beat Newcastle United 1-0 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday afternoon. This was their third win of the campaign and arguably the most impressive one as the Hatters not only kept a clean sheet against one of the top-four contenders, but they did it days after captain Tom Lockyer collapsed on the pitch during their clash with Bournemouth on 16 December. 

 

That was the reason why the game between Luton Town and Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium was called off and it will be played on a later date. 

 

Despite the victory against Newcastle, Luton remained in 18^th place, but more importantly moved to within only two points of safety, while Rob Edwards' side also have a game in hand on the sides around them.

 

Luton Town welcome Chelsea in their final game of the calendar year in Saturday's early kick-off (30 December) and the Hatters are looking to end 2023 on a high.

 

Rob Edwards might also opt for some changes to his starting line-up with Marvelous Nakamba available for selection and several other players also pushing for starts. 

 

With Lockyer sidelined (to be honest, his professional career is probably over as this was his second heart problem within a couple of months), Amari'i Bell is expected to continue in a back three alongside Gabriel Osho and Teden Mengi. 

 

Experienced winger Andros Townsend scored his first Hatters goal - and his 50^th career goal - as his first-half header earned them a priceless third win of the campaign. The 32-year-old ex-England international joined Luton in October and his quality is undeniable. 

 

Marvelous Nakamba missed the game against his former club but the Zimbabwe midfielder is set to return against Sheffield United, having served a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation. 

 

Sheffield United: Wes Foderingham - George Baldock, Jack Robinson, Auston Trusty - Jayden Bogle, Vinicius Souza, Oliver Norwood, Max Lowe - Gustavo Hamer, James McAtee - Cameron Archer. (3-4-2-1) 

Luton Town: Thomas Kaminski - Teden Mengi, Gabriel Osho, Amari'i Bell - Alfie Doughty, Marvelous Nakamba, Ross Barkley, Ryan Giles - Jacob Brown, Andros Townsend - Carlton Morris. (3-4-2-1) 

 

Both sides have shown how ready they are to fight for their Premier League status.  Yet, Luton Town have the second worst away record in the Premier League (after their current opponents), and they might find it difficult to  play away from home on Boxing Day. 

 

The Blades have only won two games this season but both came at Bramall Lane. In addition to those two wins, they also did well against Manchester City and Manchester United (losing both 2-1) at home earlier in the campaign and also avoided a bad defeat on Chris Wilder's debut against Liverpool earlier this month. 

 

Since Wilder returned to Bramall Lane, Sheffield United picked up four points in as many games - just one fewer than they managed in their previous 14 league games. We believe that Chris Wilder's men have the chance to play for a big win in their bid to beat the drop. It's simple - if they want to stay, the bare minimum is to win against Luton Town.