Luton Town vs Manchester United - Preview & Betting Prediction

The Carabao Cup is back in full swing as five-time champions Manchester United pay a visit to Luton Town for a third-round clash.

(Betfair odds above – Luton win/Draw/United win)

Manchester United head to Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night to face Championship high-flyers Luton Town in a third-round clash for the EFL Cup.

The two teams square off in Bedfordshire on the back of contrasting fortunes to their respective campaigns so far. United, for example, lost their Premier League opener to Crystal Palace last weekend. While Luton have enjoyed an excellent start in the Championship with two wins out of two.

It will be the first time the two English clubs face each other in a match since April 1992, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Luton Form

After finishing an unremarkable 19th in last season’s Championship table, Nathan Jones’ side have embarked on a strong start this term. They’ve won all their two league games, including four in all competitions. Therefore, they shouldn’t be short of confidence.

That, on top of the EFL Cup’s history of surprise outcomes, should leave them hopeful of beating United. After all, what do they have to lose? The pressure will be on the visitors to deliver instead, meaning they have it all to gain.

A strong finish to last season proved to be a turning point for The Hatters, with a 1-0 win away to Hull City in July starting a seven-match winning run.

If Luton can score the first goal, ideally in the opening 45 minutes, then an upset could be a possibility. They also tend to defend deep in games and aim for frustrating their foes.

Key Team Stats

Have scored in the first half in their last two games.
Won the last seven games in all competitions (two friendlies included).
Kept five clean sheets and conceded just four goals in the last seven games (two friendlies included).

Manchester United Form

The momentum gained from their strong end to last season is long gone, with Manchester United slumping to a 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener last weekend. In fact, Donny van de Beek’s promising debut was the only highlight.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already confirmed he may make wholesale of changes to his side for the EFL Cup clash against Luton. Therefore, several players could make their first appearances on Tuesday night.

This could be seen as both a positive and negative for several reasons. The most obvious one is that most may not have played over the weekend, giving United a fresh outlook for Luton. Depending on their lack of regular action in pre-season, however, it could leave the squad short on match fitness.

Key Team Stats

Kept a clean sheet in two of their last three Carabao Cup games.
Unbeaten in last 10 meetings with Luton (W8 D2).

Team News

Luton: The injured Dan Potts will likely remain sidelined for the hosts, with both Brendan Galloway and Eunan O’Kane still unavailable. However, Tom Lockyer should return after recovering from a bout of cramp. No major changes are expected for the line-up.

Manchester United: Dean Henderson is expected to start in goal. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Brandon Williams, and Eric Bailly may also feature in defense; while Nemanja Matic and Odion Ighalo could get drafted into the line-up as part of Solskjaer’s overhaul.