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

Despite six places separating the two rivals, Watford sit just nine points adrift of their fourth-placed opponents, highlighting that they remain in the promotion race.

Match preview

Having conceded a late equaliser to Sunderland last time out, Luton boss Rob Edwards would have ideally wanted another fixture soon afterwards in order to make amends.

Nevertheless, Edwards has instead been able to reflect on the bigger picture, with Luton producing a 14-point haul from six matches to put themselves in a strong position for a playoff spot.

Trailing second-placed Sheffield United by just six points, Edwards and his Hatters squad will not be giving up on automatic promotion, but guaranteeing a top-six place is by far the priority at this stage.

Luton's resurgence at Kenilworth Road has been the recent difference-maker, with four wins and one draw coming from their last six matches on familiar territory.

Before that streak, Luton had prevailed on just three occasions at their home ground in the league this season, and another maximum return here would heap the pressure on the teams either side of them.

Edwards come face-to-face with the club which sacked him after just 11 matches earlier this season, and it has currently been proven that Watford made a mistake in continuing with their constant changes in managers.

Chris Wilder has recently been brought in to replace Edwards's successor Slaven Bilic, collecting four points from his opening three fixtures at the helm.

All three fixtures were against relegation-threatened clubs, however, and a 1-1 draw at home to bottom-placed Wigan Athletic last time out has left Wilder with much work ahead to win over the fanbase.

Watford head into this game trailing the playoffs by five points, but this is one of just two matches which come against teams situated above them during the run-in.

Luton Town Championship form:

W

D

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D

Watford Championship form:

W

L

D

L

W

D

Team News

Edwards is expected to stick with much of the Luton XI which started the draw at the Stadium of Light before the international break.

Jordan Clark is an alternative to Luke Berry in central midfield, but Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu is sidelined through injury.

While Reece Burke is in contention for a recall in defence, he has played just four minutes of football since the end of February.

Hamza Choudhury could be recalled to the Watford starting lineup having served a two-match ban for 10 yellow cards.

Leandro Bacuna may drop out having played 84 minutes for Curacao versus Argentina on Tuesday night, but Wilder may be prepared to stick with the remainder of the team from the Wigan match.

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Horvath; Osho, Lockyer, Bell; Drameh, Nakamba, Berry, Doughty; Campbell; Morris, Adebayo

Watford possible starting lineup:

Bachmann; Porteous, Cathcart, Hoedt; Ngakia, Louza, Choudhury, Kone, Sema; Davis, Pedro

We say: Luton Town 2-1 Watford

This has all the makings of a highly-competitive game, particularly with Wilder having had the international break to work with his squad. Nevertheless, Luton are growing in confidence at Kenilworth Road, leading us to predict a narrow victory for the Hatters.

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