Sheffield United vs Luton Town – Preview | OneFootball

It’s a quick turnaround for Sheffield United this week as they host Luton Town on Saturday afternoon, just a couple of days after claiming a 1-0 victory over Swansea City at Bramall Lane.

Last season, Luton Town gave it the best shot out of any of the promoted teams at Premier League survival only to suffer the same fate of the Blades and Burnley. Now, a couple of months into the Championship, the Hatters have found the start to the campaign challenging, and they are lingering down at the bottom end of the table in 20th.

After going two goals to the good against Oxford United in midweek, they ultimately surrendered their advantage as Oxford pegged them back.

With Luton already suffering from injuries to star striker Carlton Morris, Tahith Chong, and defender Mads Anderson, the last thing they needed was another player to be unavailable for the trip to South Yorkshire, but just moments after entering the field of play off the bench, midfielder Liam Walsh was sent off.

LUTON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 01: Rob Edwards, Manager of Luton Town, during the Sky Bet Championship match between Luton Town FC and Oxford United FC at on October 01, 2024 in Luton, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Transfer business

Usually I highly rate Luton Town’s summer transfer business, however, I was quite surprised at some of the additions they made. I understand they kept their key players such as Alfie Doughty, Tahith Chong and Carlton Morris, but they didn’t really add quality that can be relied on in my honest opinion.

Shandon Baptiste, for example, is a player I really liked during his time at Brentford. With that being said, he has had several injury issues over the last five years and therefore for me isn’t a player you can count on to be available. And those injury issues seem to still be present because he hasn’t featured in the matchday squad since late August.

Another player that falls into a similar category, but one that’s proven his quality at a higher level, is Victor Moses. The 33-year-old is a good player to have at this level because of his ability to give flexibility to the shape, and he’ll always be an attacking threat. Though once again, how many matches can he keep himself available for is the question.

Mark McGuinness is a player I liked the look of during his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and during his time at Cardiff City. In the last two seasons he has missed 21 games due to injury. Some may think that doesn’t sound too bad, but for a young centre-back to miss that many matches because of soft tissue injuries is a red flag, in my opinion.

Team news

Sheffield United will once again be without Oliver Arblaster as he strives towards full recovery for the Leeds United match. Jack Robinson is also a doubt, while Tom Davies is still playing catch-up in regards to fitness.

Rob Edwards will likely be without Mads Anderson, Tahith Chong, Shandon Baptiste and Daiki Hashioki. Carlton Morris is also doubtful, per The Star. Liam Walsh will be unavailable following his red card in their previous match.

Sheffield United’s star player for this game

With the way that both Harry Souttar and Anel Ahmedhodzic have been playing since forming a partnership, they each deserve a goal for their splendid defensive efforts. Over the last few games they have had sighters from the whipping corners that Gustavo Hamer and Harrison Burrows have been swinging into the box. And I think one of them will get on the scoresheet at the weekend.

Under Rob Edwards, Luton have made a name for themselves as being bullies. They’ve always seemed to outmuscle their opponents and tower over them from set pieces. But something seems different this season from the games I’ve watched. That defensive solidity has not been there when it comes to defending corners or crossing set piece situations. As a matter of fact, by my calculations they have given up 26 shots to their opponent from these scenarios in eight league games, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Ahmedhodzic or Souttar open their accounts for the season.

Luton Town’s star player for this game

Alfie Doughty will continue to be the main creative threat for Luton Town this weekend. The left-wingback has already claimed two assists in the Championship, and he’s averaging over three key passes per game.

With the chance of Tahith Chong and Carlton Morris being unavailable for Rob Edwards, he’ll be leaning on the brilliant delivery of Doughty a lot more in the hope of getting their third win of the season.

My view

It may surprise you to know that Luton Town have averaged more possession than Sheffield United have this season. Despite that, I cannot imagine Edwards coming to Bramall Lane and thinking his team, that’s struggling with injuries, can dominate the ball.

In a way I kind of want to see that happen; with the way the Blades have defended over the last few weeks they are full of confidence when the ball gets anywhere near the goal. Plus, right now, I genuinely believe United are a far better counterattacking proposition as opposed to them being possession-heavy. We have the direct style of players up front with: Gustavo Hamer, Kieffer Moore, Callum O’Hare, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

United only seem to look any good in attack when they play in bursts, and limit the number of touches per player in the sequence. I don’t think we can open up a team via a more slow and methodical build up in the final third at the moment. The first goal against Preston North End, the goals against Hull City, those are three goal examples that spring to mind. But there’s been other attacks similar to these sequences that probably should’ve resulted in a goal as well, such as the attack to win the penalty against Watford.

My prediction

I predicted a very low scoring, almost dull affair, in midweek, with the game ending either 0-0 or the Blades edging it 1-0, and that proved to be true. On Saturday, I think there’ll be a lot more exciting moments throughout the 90 minutes.

Given Luton Town’s injury situation and defensive frailties, I am confident in picking Sheffield United to win the game by at least a 2-0 score line.