On the brink of heading straight back down to the Championship, Luton Town's relegation fate could be sealed when they head to the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon to face West Ham United.
The Hatters are three points from safety heading into their penultimate Premier League game of the season, while the out-of-sorts Irons are planning for life without David Moyes.
Match preview
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Less than a year after leading West Ham to a historic triumph in the Europa Conference League, Moyes will be vacating the London Stadium hotseat on the back of an unsightly conclusion to the 2023-24 season, both domestically and on the continent.
Including their Europa League exit at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, the Irons are winless in six straight matches ahead of their final home game of the season, which will also be the 100th and last time that the veteran Moyes barks orders from the home dugout in the league at the London Stadium.
The Scotsman's departure was confirmed after last week's 5-0 embarrassment at the hands of London rivals Chelsea, which saw the Hammers ship five goals on the road for the second game running, having been humiliated in similar circumstances against Crystal Palace during their end-of-season plight.
Those two capitulations have contributed to West Ham having now conceded 70 goals in the league this term - already their joint-highest tally in the Premier League era, matching 2010-11 when they finished bottom of the pile.
Seventh place is now the highest that Moyes's men - currently occupying ninth spot - can hope for, but they are five points behind Chelsea and Manchester United having played a game more than both sides, who need only win one of their remaining three to eliminate West Ham from European contention for good.
Before Julen Lopetegui - once of Real Madrid and Spain - takes the reins in the capital, Moyes will at least endeavour to improve the Irons' harrowing home record of just two wins from 12 games in 2024, although four of the hosts' last five contests on familiar turf have ended in a share of the points.
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Another stalemate may or may not be enough for Luton to prolong their fight for survival until the 38th gameweek, but while Rob Edwards's troops can only do what they can in their final 180 minutes of football, external factors must also benefit them if a second season in the big time is to come their way.
Holding Everton to a 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road last Friday night - where the fit-again Elijah Adebayo hit double figures for the campaign - at least snapped a three-game losing sequence in the top flight for Luton, but a handful of golden chances to nab maximum points passed them by at the end, leaving Edwards to admit he felt "sick" as Everton survived by the skin of their teeth.
Still 18th in the rankings with two games remaining, Luton will go down this weekend if Nottingham Forest - who are at home to Chelsea - better their result, or if Burnley triumph against Tottenham Hotspur and they lose to West Ham, as the Clarets and Tricky Trees square off on the final day.
The Hatters' vastly inferior goal difference to Nottingham Forest, -29 compared to -18 for the Garibaldi, is another reason for pessimism, as is their five-game losing run away from home in the Premier League, and they have not kept a clean sheet on the road all season long.
Edwards's men could therefore choose no better time to finally bolt the back door shut on enemy territory, but they could not do so in a 2-1 home defeat to West Ham back in September, and failure to exact revenge will surely lead to a premature end to their Premier League adventure.
Team News
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A trio of West Ham players will miss Moyes's London Stadium swansong this weekend, including Manchester City-owned Kalvin Phillips, whose disastrous loan spell may finish without another appearance due to a calf strain.
Defensive duo Dinos Mavropanos (knock) and Nayef Aguerd (ankle) were unavailable for the defeat to Chelsea too, and even though the former was making strong progress in his recovery before the trip to Stamford Bridge, he and his Moroccan counterpart are still absent.
Lucas Paqueta is expected to be fine despite a knock in West London, though, while Danny Ings, Maxwel Cornet and James Ward-Prowse ought to come into Moyes's thinking after last weekend's humiliation.
Luton are not so fortunate on the injury front, though, and even though Adebayo is back with a bang following his hamstring issue, Edwards will still have to cope without seven infirm men for the trip to London.
Dan Potts (thigh), Mads Andersen (calf), Tom Lockyer (heart), Issa Kabore (ankle), Marvelous Nakamba (knee), Jacob Brown (knee) and Amari'i Bell (hamstring) are confined to the medical bay, but hamstring victim Cheidozie Ogbene is in full training again and is a candidate to return to the squad.
Edwards hinted last month that he would be prepared to take risks with survival on the line, although Ogbene will likely take his seat on the bench as Tahith Chong and 10-goal Carlton Morris support Adebayo, also on double figures for the Premier League season.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Burke, Osho, Mengi; Onyedinma, Barkley, Lokonga, Doughty; Chong, Morris; Adebayo
We say: West Ham United 2-2 Luton Town
West Ham have developed an affinity for home stalemates as the campaign draws to a close, and this weekend's encounter against a desperate Luton side who almost always pose a threat in the final third may be no different.
Moyes may not enjoy the dream farewell given his side's horrendous defensive streak, but the Irons can fight fire with fire to hold their visitors to just a single point, leaving the travelling fans biting their nails ahead of Forest's evening kickoff.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
