In their 25th match of the Championship season, Luton Town will hope to distance themselves from the relegation zone when they host Norwich City at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday.
The home side have 25 points and are sixth last in 19th place, four points and three places ahead of the league's three relegation spots, while the visitors are in 12th place with 30 points from 24 matchweeks and drew 1-1 with Queens Park Rangers on December 29.
Match preview
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Luton were beaten 2-1 by Swansea City on Sunday, a match in which they opened the scoring after five minutes but went on to face six big chances and concede a 91st-minute winner.
Boss Rob Edwards could point to the fact that his side were reduced to 10 men in the 68th minute as a mitigating factor for his side's loss, but his team have been poor defensively for some time considering they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight games.
The Hatters have conceded 41 goals and conceded 26 times in the Championship this campaign, and these are the division's second-worst defensive and joint seventh-worst offensive returns.
Luton's recent form is poor, with the club having been defeated in three of their four most recent matches, winning just twice in their last eight outings and losing 4-2 against Norwich on November 30.
It should be noted that Edwards's side have still been strong at home, winning four and drawing two of their past six fixtures at Kenilworth Road.
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Visitors Norwich will perhaps be perplexed that they failed to take three points against QPR considering they produced over two xG, registered 14 shots from inside the penalty area and prevented their opponents from producing a shot on target.
In the aftermath of the draw, manager Johannes Hoff Thorup highlighted set pieces as an area that his players must improve on, saying: "Since the last international break about 40 per cent of the goals we have conceded have come from set-pieces and we have to be better at that."
Thorup's side have conceded 11 set-piece goals this season – the second most in the Championship – and only four teams have conceded a higher percentage of their goals from dead-ball situations.
The Canaries have been in poor form of late having lost three, drawn two and won just one of their last six matches, conceding nine goals and scoring five times in that period.
Norwich are winless in their eight most recent away fixtures, succumbing to defeat four times in their past six games on the road.
Team News
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Luton will certainly be without midfielder Liam Walsh and wing-back Joseph Johnson, who are both suspended due to red cards, as well as centre-back Teden Mengi until late April due to injury.
Victor Moses is likely to come in for Johnson, and considering defenders Alfie Doughty, Reece Burke and Tom Lockyer are also ruled out, expect Moses to be joined in the backline by Thomas Holmes, Mark McGuinness, Amari'i Bell and Tahith Chong.
Tom Krauss, Jordan Clark and Marvelous Nakamba could feature in a midfield three, though Shandon Baptiste is unavailable until early January as a result of a calf injury.
As for Norwich, they will be without winger Christian Fassnacht and striker Joshua Sargent, and their absences could mean that Ante Crnac is flanked by Oscar Schwartau and Borja Sainz.
Midfielders Gabriel Forsyth and Liam Gibbs have been ruled out until the middle of next month due to respective knee and hamstring injuries, while Jacob Lungi Sorensen is reportedly a doubt.
If Sorensen is not declared fit for Wednesday's match, then Anis Ben Slimane, Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez are likely to be given places in the starting XI.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Holmes, McGuinness, Bell; Chong, Krauss, Clark, Nakamba, Moses; Adebayo, Morris
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Gunn; Fisher, Duffy, Doyle, Chrisene; Slimane, McLean, Nunez; Schwartau, Crnac, Sainz
We say: Luton Town 2-1 Norwich City
Considering Norwich created numerous opportunities in the final third against QPR, they should be confident of at least regularly threatening Luton's goal.
However, the visitors' away record is alarming while the hosts' form at home is impressive, and it would not be surprising if Luton narrowly defeated the Canaries.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
