Preview: Brentford vs. Luton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

The Hatters ran out 2-1 victors over Crystal Palace in front of a buoyant Kenilworth Road crowd last time out, while the Bees' efforts were futile in a 1-0 loss to London rivals Arsenal.

Match preview

Failure to capitalise on a pair of Aaron Ramsdale blunders would come back to bite Brentford in their showdown with the Gunners last Saturday, where Mikel Arteta's men were indebted to all of Declan Rice, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kai Havertz in the capital clash.

After Rice and Zinchenko produced phenomenal goal-line clearances to deny Bryan Mbeumo and Neal Maupay respectively, Havertz did exactly what he was brought off the bench to do, latching onto Bukayo Saka's cross to the back post and heading home through the legs of Mark Flekken in the 89th minute.

Failing to score in a Premier League home game for the first time in 2023 and the third time overall - having also been shut out by Arsenal in the EFL Cup and West Ham United in the FA Cup - Brentford lost their grip on a top-half spot in the table and occupy 11th place with a third of the season gone, albeit only behind local foes Chelsea on goal difference.

With the Blues not in action until they meet Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, Brentford will sneak back into the top 10 if they can avoid a third successive Premier League loss this weekend, having also drawn a blank in a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool, but only two of their eight home games so far this term have ended in victory.

Furthermore, Arsenal's shut-out at the Gtech Community Stadium last weekend ended the Bees' 19-game Premier League scoring streak in front of their own fans, but not since the Bees' days in the doldrums of League One in 2011-12 have they suffered three successive league losses without scoring in any of them.

A goal worthy of winning any Premier League game flew past Luton number one Thomas Kaminski during the Hatters' clash with Palace last weekend, as only two minutes after Teden Mengi's opener, Michael Olise embarked on a magnificent solo run before finding the top corner with panache.

However, Palace were on level terms for all of nine minutes as Jacob Brown met Chiedozie Ogbene's cross to deliver a maiden home win in the 2023-24 Premier League season, and to rub salt into Olise's wounds, the Frenchman's goal-of-the-weekend prize was ripped from his grasp by Alejandro Garnacho 24 hours later.

Not since the First Division's farewell season in 1991-92 had Luton come up trumps in a top-flight fixture at Kenilworth Road, where their beating of Palace marked just their second league win of the campaign almost two months on from sinking Everton at Goodison Park.

By snapping a run of six matches without victory in the division, Rob Edwards's men kept their heads above water and will not drop any lower than 17th place no matter what transpires over the weekend, as 18th-placed Sheffield United have a four-point gap to make up to their fellow promotees.

Olise's wonder strike last weekend means that Luton are still waiting for their first clean sheet of the season in any competition, though, and the Hatters have been beaten in five of their last six meetings with Brentford, who won 1-0 in a January 2021 Championship battle thanks to a Saman Ghoddos strike.

Brentford Premier League form:

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W

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Luton Town Premier League form:

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D

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D

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W

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Team News

Brentford's cause against Arsenal was not aided by a pair of fresh injury concerns before the contest, as Mathias Jensen and Mads Roerslev both picked up knocks leading up to the match, but Frank expects the pair to shake off their issues in time for Saturday.

However, Nathan Collins (ankle), Rico Henry (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Kevin Schade (groin), Josh Dasilva (thigh) and Mikkel Damsgaard (knee) are all expected to remain absent alongside Ivan Toney, who will soon enter the final six weeks of his lengthy suspension.

With Jensen and Roerslev on course to be fit, full Premier League debutant Yegor Yarmolyuk and the seldom-seen Ghoddos should drop out, and a potential switch to a four-man backline would benefit Maupay's chances of a recall to the attack.

While Palace saw both Eberechi Eze and Cheick Doucoure come off injured in their loss to Luton, the Hatters did not sustain any fresh concerns, but Edwards's medical team will still need to conduct checks on a couple of stricken players.

There is hope that Issa Kabore will return from concussion protocol, while Cauley Woodrow might be available again after a calf problem, but Marvelous Nakamba (knee), Albert Sambi Lokonga (thigh), Reece Burke (thigh), Mads Andersen (thigh) and Dan Potts (ankle) will likely return later in December.

Kabore's expected return to fitness would give Edwards a healthy selection dilemma out wide, where Alfie Doughty and Amari'i Bell lined up from the off against Palace, while Brown is threatening to take Andros Townsend's place in the final third after his match-winning contribution off the bench last weekend.

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Ajer, Mee, Pinnock, Roerslev; Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Maupay, Wissa

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Kaminski; Mengi, Osho, Lockyer; Doughty, Mpanzu, Barkley, Bell; Ogbene, Morris, Brown

We say: Brentford 2-0 Luton Town

For 89 minutes of Brentford's clash with Arsenal, Thomas Frank's side maintained a marvellous defensive structure, and only a lack of a cutting edge at the other end of the field denied them at least a point against the league leaders.

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